Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) launched a congressional petition on Tuesday to force a vote on their legislation to release the criminal files on deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The procedural move that defies House leadership’s wishes comes as Congress returns from its six-week district work period, and lawmakers are expected to face a hefty schedule as Republicans battle with their conservative MAGA base over how best to release the information related to Epstein. The convicted sex offender traveled in high-powered circles before his death in 2019 as he awaited trial for alleged sex trafficking of minors.
The so-called “discharge petition” must reach 218 signatures for it to force the speaker to call a vote on it. After the petition reaches that threshold, the member can call a vote after seven legislative days. Beginning Tuesday, members can now add their signatures to the petition. Most, if not all, Democrats are expected to sign on to the petition, meaning only six Republicans would need to cross party lines to add their names.
Massie told reporters ahead of filing the discharge petition that he is “pretty confident” he will reach the 218 signatures but is not sure on a timeline. He said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) was the second signer after him, noting that the White House is whipping against it.
“I really think it would be better politically for Republicans to just bring this to the floor and vote on it,” Massie said of his bill. “Make it a unanimous vote, and then it doesn’t look like we’re trying to hide anything.”
Because, he said, “the more they push back, and the more billionaires spend running ads against me in Kentucky, yes, the more suspicious I get.”
During the August recess, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) hoped that passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would distract from the infighting over Epstein. But the discharge petition reflects divisions in the GOP conference, as Johnson holds a razor-thin majority, allowing him little room for error on handling the contentious issue.
Massie has 12 members of his party who have signed on to his bill with Khanna, giving them more than enough signatures to force a vote on their bipartisan bill if said Republicans hop on the discharge petition.
The Kentucky congressman said he expects many Republicans to join because transparency on the issue is a priority for a majority of people.
“They go home, they read the binder, they’re like, ‘We already had all this. This is all still already on the internet,'” Massie said. “And then they get more upset because someone insulted their intelligence by giving them things they already knew.”
House GOP leaders have blasted discharge petitions as “tools of the minority,” but a handful of Republicans have used this procedure within the last couple of years to try to bring bills that leadership does not approve of to the floor for a vote.
As Republican leaders braced for the discharge petition on Tuesday, they added a bill to the floor this week that would direct the House Oversight Committee to “continue its ongoing investigation” into Epstein, their latest effort to appease the members of their caucus on the issue.
The resolution is largely symbolic, as the committee can continue the investigation without a House vote. But it gives Republicans a chance to go on record on the House floor and show their constituents that they voted to continue the inquiry into Epstein.
Massie blasted the “meaningless” resolution in a post to X ahead of launching the discharge petition.
Johnson “just scheduled this meaningless vote to provide political cover for those members who don’t support our bipartisan legislation to force the release of the Epstein files,” Massie wrote.
The speaker, who has not made it a secret that he has a strained relationship with Massie, fired shots at the congressman on Tuesday, telling reporters, “I would describe virtually everything Thomas Massie says as related to this issue as meaningless.”
Massie brushed off Johnson’s remarks when reporters asked for a reaction. He said he thinks the “danger” with leadership’s resolution is that when “people find out it’s a nothing burger, they’re going to be even more mad.”
“And guess what? If we aren’t to 218 by then, I don’t think it’ll be too hard to get to 218 at that point,” the congressman added.
Massie also does not think Johnson will try to kill the discharge petition in an unrelated rule, a move leadership did recently to try to prevent Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) from forcing a vote on proxy voting for new parents.
The House Rules Committee faced a similar issue of political cover ahead of the August recess. The committee’s meeting was indefinitely halted and eventually canceled because Republicans on the panel did not want to have to take a possibly politically damaging vote against Democratic and Republican-sponsored amendments to release the files.
To move forward on the issue, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) issued 10 subpoenas, including ones for former President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton, to further dive into the details.
But Massie said that the Oversight Committee’s investigation is only zeroed in on the investigators, not “finding co-conspirators” or people involved in Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking ring.
“It’s not focused on that at all, and I suspect it will lead to zero criminal referrals,” Massie said.
He also blasted the Justice Department for its handling of the files, accusing the transfer of documents to the Oversight Committee of being “highly curated, not redacted.”
Democrats have remained united on the issue of the Epstein files as it has gained traction in recent months. The party has called for a full release of the files from the Trump Justice Department, but did not call for the same release just last year when former President Joe Biden was in office.
HOUSE RETURNS TO PACKED SCHEDULE, LONG TO-DO LIST, AND EPSTEIN DRAMA
Meanwhile, victims of Epstein will be on Capitol Hill this week, meeting with members in both press conferences and closed-door meetings.
Johnson and the House Oversight Committee will meet with victims on Tuesday, the Washington Examiner confirmed. Massie and Khanna scheduled a press conference for Wednesday alongside the victims to provide updates on the discharge petition.
