Republicans Shut Down House Floor to Avoid Epstein Vote

House Republicans brought legislative business to a halt on Monday, abruptly shutting down the House floor to block a planned vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files.

It comes after Democrats said they planned to stage a vote on bringing legislation to the floor that would compel the release of the Epstein files.

Why It Matters

The GOP’s decision to shut down the House floor to avoid a vote on Epstein-related legislation highlights the growing political tension over transparency and accountability in one of the most infamous criminal cases in recent memory. As the House heads into recess without resolving the matter, pressure is mounting from both Democrats and dissenting Republicans to force action—setting up a potential showdown in the months ahead.

What To Know

House Republicans abruptly recessed a key Rules Committee meeting Monday evening, effectively halting legislative business for the week and blocking a planned Democratic-led vote to release materials related to Jeffrey Epstein’s network.

Committee Democrats had planned to force a vote that night on a resolution calling for the public release of Epstein-related documents. The move came as the panel was preparing unrelated bills for House floor consideration.

But rather than work through the disruption, Republicans chose to shut things down entirely. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said it was “unlikely” the committee would reconvene this week at all. Lawmakers later confirmed there were no plans to return—meaning the House will likely head into August recess without voting on several bills that cannot pass under expedited rules, including a GOP-backed immigration measure and a water-permitting bill.

“We’ll see you in September,” said Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern, who was leading the push to bring the Epstein vote forward. McGovern was backing a bipartisan resolution introduced by Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna.

Massie and Khanna have vowed to bypass leadership altogether by using a discharge petition to force a vote—if they can get 218 members to sign on. If all Democrats and the resolution’s current Republican cosponsors do so, they could corner House GOP leaders.

Massie, speaking to reporters with a binder labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 2” in hand, criticized leadership’s proposed response. “Their Epstein bill resolution is non-binding so it’s kind of fake,” he said. “The resolution I have with Khanna would be binding on the President.”

Last week, Republican Rules members had teed up a symbolic resolution urging the release of Epstein-related files after public backlash over their earlier rejection of a Democratic amendment. But Speaker Mike Johnson has since refused to bring even that watered-down version to the floor.

Scalise confirmed that decision Monday, Politico reported: “The Trump administration’s petitioned the courts to release some of the sealed documents. Hopefully, the court acts swiftly. It’d be important if they got that out.”

Republicans on the panel accused Democrats of political theater. “Democrats keep putting all these amendments up. They want to make Epstein — and, you know, we’re all for transparency, and we’re going to do that, but what they want to do is grandstand,” Representative Ralph Norman told reporters. “They said they’ll be there all night, we’ll be there all night.”

Norman added that Republicans refused to give the minority “an endless microphone.”

McGovern pushed back in a statement: “Democrats on the Rules Committee gave Republicans a choice — either vote to release the Epstein Files, or keep them a secret. Republicans are so afraid of taking that vote that they are torching their own agenda instead of doing something they promised the voters they would do,” he said.

“Trump and his top allies have been pushing this for years — and people aren’t going to forget about it in a month.”

Speaker Johnson defended the leadership’s approach, insisting the House and White House were aligned: “Here’s what I would say about the Epstein files: There is no daylight between the House Republicans, the House, and the president on maximum transparency,” Johnson said Monday. “He has said that he wants all the credible files related to Epstein to be released. He’s asked the attorney general to request the grand jury files of the court. All of that is in process right now.”

“My belief is we need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing, and if further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that,” he added. “But I don’t think we’re at that point right now because we agree with the president.”

Later that night, Johnson reiterated the House would not vote on the legislation this week: “There was nothing else that was time-sensitive this week that we needed to handle by way of a rule,” he said. “So the work of the House will continue all week, we’ll be here doing our work, and we won’t allow [Democrats] a platform to try and engage in political games.”

The floor shutdown follows a Justice Department memo released last week confirming that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 and that the government does not possess a “client list.” The findings directly contradicted years of conspiracy theories pushed by some Trump allies and figures in the MAGA movement who have insisted Epstein was murdered.

The backlash reportedly infuriated President Trump, who called his supporters “weaklings” who were “duped” by the Epstein “hoax”—a narrative he claimed, falsely, had been pushed by Democrats. He later walked back the statement, saying he supports the release of “credible” documents but urged his base to move on.

Last week, Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin the process of unsealing grand jury materials in the Epstein case.

What People Are Saying

Democratic strategist Sawyer Hackett wrote on X: “Incredible. House Republicans have shut down the Rules Committee, effectively canceling House votes this week—to avoid Dem amendments to release the Epstein files.

“It looks like Republicans in Congress are co-signing on a massive Trump cover-up.”

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X: “Ummm so let me get this straight: Republicans have ground Congress to a halt and are considering adjourning the entire House for 6 weeks to avoid releasing the info they have on Epstein? What is going on here?”

Republican Representative Thomas Massie wrote on X: “Why not vote on the binding Massie-Khanna Epstein legislation this week @SpeakerJohnson? We should not punt this until after the 5 week recess, nor should we wait for my discharge petition to ripen and collect the required signatures to force the vote.”

What Happens Next

No vote is expected to take place until at least after the House returns from August recess in September — by which time many Republicans hope the Epstein furor will have died down.