The months-long standoff in Washington over releasing files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is poised to enter a new phase of uncertainty as the House prepares to vote on the measure after President Donald Trump abruptly urged Republicans in the chamber to support it.With Trump’s blessing, the bill is expected to pass the House on Tuesday with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. That could set up a new set of battles in the weeks ahead for a measure that has already roiled Republicans for months, exposing fractures between Trump and some of his closest allies while prompting unusual bipartisan alliances to force the issue.[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]The bill, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, would require the Justice Department to make public within 30 days all files, communications and investigative materials related to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell. It would allow the redaction of details identifying victims or interfering with ongoing investigations but prohibit the department from withholding information over concerns of “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.”The House vote on the measure is expected to take place on Tuesday afternoon, according to those familiar with the planning. It will be one step in a longer path toward the possible release of the files; the bill would next head to the Senate, where it could still face challenges, as Republican leaders have not committed to bringing it to the floor.But it will also be a culmination of a period of conflict and reckoning for many in the House. Some Republicans who had loudly opposed the measure now appear poised to support it after the President’s sudden reversal, potentially putting them in an awkward position during the floor vote on Tuesday. Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican who in July called the renewed focus on the Epstein investigation “a colossal waste of time and effort,” said in a lengthy X post on Monday that he would vote in favor of the bill. He noted that the House Oversight Committee has already released tens of thousands of documents related to Epstein, but “it is clear it is not enough in the eyes of many.”“To ensure complete transparency and accountability, Congress will take the unprecedented step to release all records pertaining to this case,” he added.Trump’s reversal itself marked a sharp and unusual retreat for a President who had spent months working aggressively to block the vote, and underscores the limits of his influence inside a conference he has otherwise kept in lockstep. “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday night. “I DON’T CARE,” he added, insisting that Democrats were trying to “weaponize the files” against him and declaring it was “time to move on from this Democrat Hoax.”His change of course came only after it was clear supporters in the House had the votes to pass the measure, thanks to a rare and ultimately successful discharge petition mounted by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie and California Democrat Ro Khanna. “He got tired of me winning,” Massie said in an interview with Politico on Monday, describing the President’s shift as a bow to the inevitable. Massie told TIME on Friday that Trump was never the target of his effort to get more of the Epstein files out in the open, and he doesn’t believe Trump is implicated in them. “My quest to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files is not about incriminating the President.
I don’t think there’s anything in there that does,” he said. “I do think part of the reason he doesn’t want the Epstein files released is he’s trying to protect friends and donors in his social circle of the last four decades…People in West Palm Beach and New York City.”Read more: Thomas Massie Helped Force a House Vote on the Epstein Files. He’s Not DoneStill, White House officials had treated the Epstein records bill as a test of loyalty, dispatching aides to warn Republicans that backing it would be seen as a direct challenge to the President. The effort intensified in recent days: Officials pulled Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert into the White House Situation Room in a last-minute attempt to convince her to withdraw her signature, and Trump personally attacked Massie and publicly denounced Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene as a “traitor” for supporting the vote.But once Rep. Adelita Grijalva, Democrat of Arizona, added her name to the Massie-Khanna discharge petition as the 218th signer, the resistance had collapsed. House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he would bring the bill to the floor this week rather than allowing the discharge process to run its course. Johnson, who spent months opposing the measure, sought to downplay the significance of the forthcoming vote, telling CNN on Monday that his backing for the measure “will be conditioned upon an agreement in the Senate that if indeed they process it, they’ve got to fix the terrible provisions in it.” He added that the issue was “entirely [a] moot point,” arguing that the House Oversight Committee was still conducting “all their deliberate work”—a signal that Republican leaders were trying to frame the upcoming vote as procedural rather than a definitive judgment on the investigation.Democrats, for their part, say the House is moving ahead only because Republicans were unable to stop it. Survivors of Epstein’s abuse are expected to join Massie, Khanna, Greene and others at the Capitol on Tuesday morning. “The Epstein vote transcends politics. It’s deeply personal,” South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican, wrote on X on Monday. “I will cast my vote tomorrow with profound emotion, mindful of how far we have come—and how much further we have to go.”If the House approves the bill as expected, pressure will shift to the Senate, where prospects are far less assured. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in September that he “can’t comment” on whether he would bring the measure to the floor and noted that the Justice Department has already released “tons of files related to this matter.” He added that he trusts the department to disclose information “in a way that protects the rights of the victims,” a signal that Republican leaders may prefer to avoid a politically combustible vote.Thune’s office did not return a request for comment on whether he would bring the measure to the floor if it passes the House. Senate Democrats, however, are exploring procedural options to force action or at least make Republicans publicly oppose the release. Republican Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas told reporters Monday that Trump’s support for passing the Epstein resolution “should make a difference” in the Senate, previewing a potential upper chamber showdown in the coming days or weeks. “I don’t have any problems with data coming out, lots of people ran on this issue in the last election, so I don’t have any problems with us voting on it,” he said.If the bill passes both chambers, it would go to Trump’s desk for his signature. Asked in the Oval Office on Monday if he would sign the measure to compel the Justice Department to release all Epstein files, Trump said: “Sure I would. Let the Senate look at it, let anybody look at it. But don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want it taking away from us…really the greatness of what the Republican party has accomplished over the last period of time.”Legal experts have also warned that Trump’s Department of Justice could try to block the release of Epstein-related files by asserting executive privilege after Trump ordered a new probe last week into several of his political opponents for their links to Epstein. The White House characterized the President directing those investigations as an example of how the President has “done more for the victims than Democrats ever have,” telling TIME in a statement: “President Trump has been consistently calling for transparency related to the Epstein files.”Massie has suggested that Trump could sidestep a showdown by ordering the release of the files himself. “There’s still time for him to be the hero,” he said last week.