House Republicans have lost control of the floor over their Jeffrey Epstein blow-up, and they’re struggling to chart a path out of the crisis.
GOP leaders are talking with Trump administration officials, searching for ways to appease Republican members incensed over the lack of public information and Speaker Mike Johnson’s handling of the matter broadly.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, as he headed into a House GOP conference meeting Tuesday morning, said in a brief interview that Republican leaders and others are now trying to “expedite” the administration’s release of information over the August recess.
“I think a lot of members are frustrated that for years, Democrats covered for Epstein. But ultimately, they also know that President Trump’s in court right now trying to unseal the documents, and for whatever reason, the courts have sealed a lot of those records,” Scalise said.
“We hope they unseal those and show them to the public,” said Scalise, “and we’re trying to get that expedited.”
Johnson also addressed the issue inside the conference meeting, according to people familiar with his private remarks. He mostly reiterated what he’s been saying publicly, that President Donald Trump and the House GOP are pushing for “transparency” but some caution is needed to protect the names of victims.
He pressed House Republicans to not let Democrats score political points on Epstein, appearing to suggest they should hold the line against any Epstein-related votes for now.
At their own weekly caucus meeting elsewhere in the Capitol Tuesday morning, House Democrats were gloating.
“It is extraordinary that they’re so scared shitless over these Epstein files, that they’ve done something that I’ve never seen happen before. I mean, basically they just shut down for the week,” said House Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.).
McGovern was referring to the events of the day before, when Republican leaders chose to cancel several floor votes for the week than allow Democrats to force a vote in the Rules Committee on bipartisan legislation from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that would compel the release of Epstein documents.
Meanwhile, getting grand jury information unsealed will be a tall task, and it’s possible Republicans won’t get any of that information before lawmakers return from recess in September. Epstein was a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in his jail cell in 2019.
Asked about Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell testifying before Congress, as some lawmakers are calling for, Scalise noted that Attorney General Pam Bondi was seeking to speak with Maxwell.
He added, however, that the Judiciary Committee “is looking at a number of items here.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said of the Epstein documents, “We will push to get to that exposed.”
Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
