Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said his chamber could deal with the Jeffrey Epstein files “fairly quickly” after a measure calling for their release passed resoundingly through the House.
Thune said the resolution could be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk as soon as Tuesday, telling reporters that GOP leadership was seeing if there would be any objections on their side of the aisle.
Just minutes earlier, the House approved the resolution with just one lawmaker, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), opposing the vote.
“The bill is being hotlined on our side right now. Let’s see what the Democrats have to say, but it’s the kind of thing that could perhaps move by unanimous consent,” Thune said.
Thune’s comments suggest the Epstein saga could soon be behind congressional Republicans, who have grappled for months with how to deal with repeated Democratic attempts to force the release of documents detailing convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had argued a full release would not adequately protect the victims’ identities, while Republicans questioned why Democrats were forcing the issue now but not under former President Joe Biden.
But the Republican Party was eventually dragged toward a vote after four Republicans handed Democrats the needed signatures to bring the measure to the House floor. Trump, facing the prospect of a bipartisan rebuke, also performed an about-face over the weekend and plans to sign the resolution.
Thune cited the margins of Tuesday’s vote and Trump’s own support in swatting away a series of last-minute pleas by Johnson, who voted for release but wants the Senate to amend the legislation to block “non-credible allegations” from becoming public, among other changes.
EVERY HOUSE REPUBLICAN, BAR ONE, VOTES TO RELEASE EPSTEIN FILES
“I think when a bill comes out of the House, 427 to 1, and the president has said he’s going to sign it, I’m not sure that amending it is in the cards,” Thune said.
Afterward, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that he would attempt to pass the Epstein resolution later on Tuesday with a recorded vote, urging Republicans not to “slow-walk it in any way.”
