Breaking down the looming House vote on the Epstein files Analysis

Breaking down the looming House vote on the Epstein files
Analysis by Aaron Blake, CNN

Sat, November 15, 2025 at 2:00 AM CST

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/breaking-down-looming-house-vote-080002351.html

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It was way back in late July that Johnson sent the House off on a five-week recess a day early to quell a growing Republican revolt. He later kept the House out of session for an extraordinarily long time during the shutdown. This carried the benefit – whether it was the express purpose or not – of giving him an excuse not to swear in the decisive 218th member to force the vote.

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And the large margin appears to be what many are anticipating. CNN reported this week that House GOP leadership is expecting mass defections. The lead GOP co-sponsor of the discharge petition, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, isn’t exactly lowering expectations, either. He has set a threshold for success at two-thirds of the House, or nearly 290 votes, if all members are present.That’s the point at which enough members support the measure that it could overcome a presidential veto.

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Voting for the bill would be a significant rebuke of Trump and Johnson, who explicitly fought against this. It would suggest that the other measures taken – such as the House Oversight Committee’s release of some Epstein materials obtained from his estate – just weren’t good enough. Congressional Republicans almost never buck Trump like this.

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Given all of that, voting against releasing the records risks making you look like you’re part of a cover-up – a cover-up for pedophilia. And what if the stuff is actually going to come out anyway, and maybe even includes some significant information? Who wants to be one of the people who voted against that transparency?

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The bill would require about 75 out of the 219 House Republicans to vote with Democrats. Several Republicans have reported they support the bill. Republican lawmakers (Kennedy for one) are starting to resent administration mishandling of the Epstein stink, and may well view this vote as a chance to force the issue and get out from underneath this mess.

It's been reported Friday at a Trump ally on Capitol Hill a TACO backer told the president directly that they questioned the strategy stonewalling and downplaying delaying the release of information.

75%+ of Americans wanted all the files released, according to an NPR-PBS-Marist College poll in September, and a CBS News-YouGov poll showed almost 90% felt the government should release all information.

Trump hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Suspicion about what the files might show about his own proximity to the convicted sex offender by fighting the transparency that his administration once promised is working against him. He did call for investigation into Epstein’s ties to Democratic high-profile figures, a probe could be a further obstacle to a possible release of the DOJ’s files.