It’s official: the House of Representatives will start its August recess Wednesday at about four o’clock in the afternoon. The series of events that led to the House standstill is a bit inside baseball — but the reason is clear: Jeffrey Epstein.
The Rules Committee at a standstill
The early start to what will now be a month-and-a-half-long vacation is happening because lawmakers can’t get anything through the Rules Committee. The powerful 13-member body is the gatekeeper to the House floor. With few exceptions, if a bill cannot get through the Rules Committee, it will not get to the House floor for a final vote.
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Democrats have been continually introducing bills and amendments to release the Epstein files every time a matter comes before the committee. Republicans won’t support it because they don’t want to advance a Democratic measure or betray President Donald Trump.
“Why? Because Donald Trump for whatever reason doesn’t want these records to get out anymore,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said. “After years of promising America that his administration would release the Epstein files and tapes, Trump is now calling it a hoax.”
But Republicans don’t want to vote against the measure either because they don’t want to be seen as trying to keep the Epstein files a secret.
So they’re at an impasse. Until it can figure out how to overcome the Epstein issue in the Rules Committee, the House of Representatives is more or less at a standstill.
Republicans in a bind
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Democrats don’t have the moral high ground on Epstein because they controlled the Justice Department for four years during the Biden Administration and never released the files. Johnson said Republicans have been “intellectually consistent” on the issue the entire time.
“What we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats’ political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ram,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday morning. “The Rules Committee became the ground for them to do that. We’re not going to engage in that charade anymore.”
“I believe in maximum transparency. I think every single House Republican will say the same thing,” Johnson said. “We also understand the other part of that duty is that we get to protect innocent victims.”
Forcing a vote
A number of Republicans, including some of Trump’s closest allies on the Hill, say they want the Epstein files released. They also said they are willing to vote on legislation to compel the Justice Department to act.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is threatening to circulate a discharge petition on the matter. If successful, the petition would require the House to vote on a bill to release the Epstein files. Because of the early recess, his petition will now have to wait until the House returns in September.
Massie said he doesn’t believe an August recess will make this issue go away.
“I think that was the admonition of our speaker in there, was just sort of, stick your head in the sand, let the administration maybe dissipate this by dribbling some stuff out,” Massie told reporters Tuesday, July 22.
The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to release grand jury testimony from the criminal case. The move was made in an attempt to appease the growing calls for transparency. Some experts, however, believe the transcripts won’t give the public what it’s looking for.
