US Republican lawmakers avoid awkward Epstein votes by taking early summer break
The furore around the Epstein files has roiled the Trump administration, and Democrats were trying to force House votes on their release
The Republican leadership in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday sent lawmakers home early for a six-week summer break, to avoid being forced into awkward votes on the probe into the late, politically connected sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The furore around the disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking minors, is still roiling Donald Trump’s administration two weeks after his Justice Department effectively closed the case, announcing there was no more information to share.
Democrats in the House – keen to capitalise on the simmering controversy – have been trying to force a vote that would compel the publication of the full Epstein case files.
Desperate to avert the effort and unable to bring up anything but the most non-controversial bills, the Republican leadership cancelled votes scheduled for Thursday – sending lawmakers home for the August recess a day early.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump loyalist who was under pressure from the president not to allow any Epstein votes, voiced hopes that the break would provide “space” for a resolution.
But Democrats accused the majority Republicans of running scared of their own voters, many of whom have been demanding more transparency.