Members of the House returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, setting the stage for a key vote to compel the release of all the government’s files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after weeks of delays from Speaker Mike Johnson. Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona was sworn in Wednesday afternoon, which will allow her to add the 218th and final required signature on a bipartisan petition that would force a full House vote on releasing the files, an issue President Donald Trump and his allies have been seeking to dodge for months as controversy over the Administration’s handling of the case and Trump’s years-long relationship with Epstein have mounted. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]The discharge petition, a rarely used legislative maneuver, will enable a majority of lawmakers to bypass the chamber’s Republican leadership and bring the measure to the floor—putting every member of the House on record with their vote. That floor vote is likely to occur some time next month, after Grijalva’s signature sets the process in motion.If the measure passes in the House, it will still face a vote in the Senate, whose Republican leaders have yet to publicly commit to supporting it.Thousands of files related to the Epstein case have already been made public. Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released an additional 20,000 pages of documents from the disgraced financier’s estate on Wednesday, shortly after Democrats on the panel released emails from the estate in which Epstein alleged Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of the sex offender’s victims and that the President “knew about the girls.”Read more: With Latest Epstein Emails, Democrats Dropped a Perfectly Timed Political BombThis year has also seen other notable releases related to Epstein, including a trove of letters from a book compiled for his 50th birthday in 2003, released by House Oversight Democrats in September, that included notes bearing the names of multiple prominent people—including Trump’s. The President has repeatedly denied writing the letter and sued multiple parties connected with the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on its existence, for defamation.Trump and his Administration have faced criticism, including from his MAGA base, for their failure to release more files related to the Epstein case after members of the President’s inner circle long claimed that the contents would expose crimes committed by powerful people. A Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI memo that aimed to put to bed multiple conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein over the summer sparked backlash and a new wave of scrutiny that persisted despite Trump’s efforts to downplay the issue and distance himself from the late sex offender.The President pressed House Republicans on Wednesday not to vote on releasing more files.“The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”Read more: White House Says Virginia Giuffre Is the Unnamed ‘Victim’ in Epstein Emails About TrumpThe petition Grijalva has pledged to sign is led by Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, one of Trump’s most staunch and vocal Republican opponents on Capitol Hill, and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California. Only four Republicans have signed onto the petition: Massie, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.The bill it will compel the House to vote on would require that the DOJ release all unclassified documents and communications related to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex-trafficking and related charges. The records requested pertain to matters including Epstein’s detention and death; flight logs and aircrafts owned by Epstein; individuals named in connection to his criminal activities; civil settlements, immunity and plea agreements; entities with ties to Epstein’s trafficking network and financials; and internal DOJ communications regarding decisions to investigate and charge Epstein or his associates, according to the resolution.It is unclear how extensive the material that has not yet been released is, or what significant new information it may contain.Grijalva won a special election in September, but Johnson refused to swear her in for the following seven weeks, six of them during the government shutdown. The delay, the longest of its kind in U.S. history, drew fierce pushback from Grijalva and Democrats, several of whom have claimed it was motivated by the Arizona Democrat’s promise to sign the discharge petition. Johnson has denied his decision was connected to Epstein.Amid the battle over the Epstein files, Republican House leadership in July sent members home early for a month-long recess as calls mounted from Democrats and several members of their own party to move toward voting on a measure to release the documents.After Grijalva signs the petition, Johnson is expected to schedule the vote on the bill following the Thanksgiving recess.