The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed legislation to require the Justice Department to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, sending the bill to President Trump’s desk. The Senate vote follows the bill’s passage in the House by a 427-1 vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the floor that the Senate “should pass this bill as soon as possible, as written and without a hint of delay,” noting that Republicans must not try to change this bill or bury it in committee, or slow walk it in any way. Any amendment to this bill would force it back to the House and risk further delay. Who knows what would happen over there?” he added. “I just asked for unanimous consent to approve the Senate bill to release the Epstein Files. There was no objection,” Schumer said on X. Now, as soon as the House transfers the bill to the Senate, it will go straight to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. The resolution from Reps Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., would require that the Department of Justice (DOJ) release all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials “publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format” related to the late financier and convicted pedophile and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell within 30 days of the bill being signed into law. The Epstein fervor has not had nearly the impact in the Senate as the House, which was thrust into chaos by the bipartisan push to see the release of the files. Earlier this year, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., put the House into recess to quell the Epstein drama and has since been accused of running from a vote on the issue. “I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill, whether tonight, or at some other time in the near future, I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had, including THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, Closed Borders, No Men in Women’s Sports or Transgender for Everyone, ending DEI, stopping Biden’s Record Setting Inflation, Biggest Tax and Regulation Cuts in History, stopping EIGHT Wars, rebuilding our Military, being RESPECTED by every Country in the World, having Trillions of Dollars INVESTED in the U.S.A., having created the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World, and even delivering a HUGE DEFEAT to the Democrats on the Shutdown,” President Trump said. Senate Republican aides said earlier in the week that the upper chamber could wait until December to take up the measure, amid a desire among some Republicans to amend the legislation to protect the identities of innocent third parties as well as classified information. The momentum to pass the bill through the Senate quickly, however, became overwhelming after the House passed it by a margin of 427 to 1. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) cast the only “no” vote, arguing it would damage innocent people, including witnesses. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said the resounding vote in the House undercut calls to amend the legislation, something that could have delayed it for weeks or months. “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 told reporters. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who voted for the legislation earlier Tuesday, accused Democrats of using it to score political points and urged Senate Republicans to make changes to it to “make sure we don’t do permanent damage to the political system.” Johnson’s pleas fell flat after Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), the lead Republican co-sponsor of the bill, warned the Senate, “Do not muck it up.”
