Only two more Republicans needed to force vote on Epstein files release, bill co-sponsor says – live (2025)

Vice-President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance have arrived in Minneapolis, where they will meet with the families of the victims of the Annunciation Catholic church shooting that killed two schoolchildren and injured nearly two dozen people last week.

“They will hold a series of private meetings to convey condolences to the families of those affected by the tragedy,” the White House said in a statement.

Trump’s attorneys are asking the US supreme court to reverse a $5m sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against him in the civil lawsuit brought by E Jean Carroll, Bloomberg News has reported.

According to a new filing, the president’s lawyers are asking the justices to extend the deadline for him to formally ask the court to toss out the verdict.

In 2023, a civil jury trial concluded that Trump had sexually abused Carroll, a former magazine columnist, in the 1990s, before he embarked on his political career, and then defamed her in 2022 when he denied the allegations as a hoax and said that she was “not my type”. Carroll was awarded $5m in damages.

The petition was due on 11 September, but Trump’s legal team has asked for an extension, until 10 November, Bloomberg wrote.

Here’s a look back at what’s gone on today so far:

• Democratic congressman Ro Khanna said only two more Republican signatures are needed for the success of a discharge petition to force a vote on legislation compelling the release of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.

• Donald Trump slammed the push for the files’ release as a “Democrat hoax that never ends” and mulled deploying federal agents into New Orleans to fight crime.

• Republican congressman Thomas Massie criticized how House GOP leaders handled the Epstein issue.

• At a separate press conference outside the US Capitol, Epstein survivors detailed abuse they suffered at the disgraced financier’s hands.

• The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said that the US would carry out more strikes like the one that targeted a suspected drug trafficking boat and killed 11 people on Tuesday off the coast of Venezuela.

• A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that Donald Trump unlawfully invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans he alleged were part of a criminal gang.

Donald Trump teased the possibility of deploying federal resources into New Orleans to fight crime.

“We’re going to be going to maybe Louisiana, and you have New Orleans, which has a crime problem. We’ll straighten that out in about two weeks. It’ll take us two weeks,” the president said.

New Orleans has a homicide rate that is among the highest in the nation, but lies in a Republican-governed state – unlike Los Angeles and Washington DC, where Trump deployed federal troops earlier this year.

Trump also confirmed that he was still sending federal agents into Chicago, saying: “We could straighten out Chicago”.

Asked at the White House about the push in Congress to release the Epstein files, Donald Trump again accused Democrats of orchestrating the controversy, and attempted to change the subject to his own purported accomplishments.

“This is a Democrat hoax that never ends,” Trump said. Referring to the recent release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, he said: “Nobody’s ever satisfied.”

“They’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president,” Trump said. He went on to claim credit for making Washington DC a “totally safe zone” with “no crime, no murders, no nothing” – though crime, including murders and robberies, have continued since he deployed the national guard and took control of its police department.

Another boast from Trump: “I ended seven wars, nobody’s going to talk about it because they’re going to talk about the Epstein whatever.” It’s unclear which seven he is referring to, though his claims of having quelled recent fighting between Pakistan and India played a part in souring the relationship with New Delhi. He also has notably not ended the war in Ukraine – something he boasted, on the campaign trail, that he could do right after taking office.

The White House has referred to signing the discharge petition to release the Epstein files as a “hostile act”, and discouraged Republicans from supporting it.

Thomas Massie, the Republican congressman who introduced the petition and is one of four lawmakers from his party who signed it, replied:

I don’t know if that’s precedented in this country to have a president call legislators to say that they’re engaged in a hostile act, particularly when the so-called hostile act is trying to get justice for people who’ve been victims of sex crimes.

He also said that the fact that there was little new in the case documents released yesterday may spur more lawmakers to sign the petition:

What people are waking up and discovering right now is the folks who stayed up all night to go through the 34,000 individual pages have found that they’re so redacted as to be useless and that many of them were already available.

A reality check on the discharge petition that could force a vote in the House on legislation to release the Epstein files.

The petition needs two more signatures – which will probably have to come from Republicans – to reach the majority threshold to compel the vote. But even if the petition receives that support and the bill passes the House, the legislation will still need to be approved by the Senate, where Republican majority leader John Thune has given no indication he will put it up for a vote.

Should it pass the Senate, it faces another obstacle: Donald Trump. He’s condemned the furor over the Epstein files as a distraction created by the Democrats, and could veto the legislation. That would punt the issue back to Congress, where the bill would need two-thirds majority support to overcome his veto – a tall order.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is among the most outspoken conservatives in Congress, but has made a rare pact with the Democrats by signing the discharge petition that could force a vote on legislation to release the Epstein files.

“This is an issue that doesn’t have political boundaries. It’s an issue that Republicans and Democrats should never fight about. As a matter of fact, it’s such an important issue that it should bring us all together,” she said at the press conference convened by the petition’s sponsors outside the Capitol.

“The truth needs to come out, and the government holds the truth. The cases that are sealed hold the truth. Jeffrey Epstein’s estate holds the truth. The FBI, the DoJ and the CIA holds the truth. And the truth we are demanding comes out on behalf of these women, but also as a strong message to every innocent child, teenager, woman and man that is being held captive in abuse. This should never happen in America, and it should never be a political issue that divides us.”

Republican congressman Thomas Massie, a co-sponsor of the discharge petition to force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files, criticized how speaker Mike Johnson has handled the issue.

Yesterday, Johnson backed a resolution that will direct the House oversight committee to continue its investigation of the government’s handling of the investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“The speaker of the House just offered a fig leaf to my colleagues. They’re going to vote on a non-binding resolution today that does absolutely nothing,” Massie said.

He also downplayed the effectiveness of the oversight committee’s investigation, which is being led by Republican chair James Comer:

I appreciate the efforts of my colleague James Comer, who’s leading the Oversight Committee. They may find some information, but they’re allowing the [department of justice (DOJ)] to curate all of the information that the DOJ is giving them.

If you’ve looked at the pages they’ve released so far, they’re heavily redacted. Some pages are entirely redacted, and 97% of this is already in the public domain.

Massie said the best way to bring transparency to the case is for lawmakers to sign his discharge petition and allow a vote on his bill to release the files:

I’m calling on my colleagues to be one of the next two who sponsors this discharge petition. I think it’s shameful that this has been called a hoax. Hopefully today we can clear that up. This is not a hoax. This is real.

Democratic congressman Ro Khanna says the House will be compelled to vote on legislation to release the Epstein files if two more Republicans sign on to a petition he has introduced along with Republican congressman Thomas Massie.

“We need just two more signatures to force the release,” Khanna said. So far, they have received the signatures of 212 Democrats and four Republicans: Massie, Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.

Those lawmakers are some of the most conservative in their party, but Khanna praised their support of the discharge petition, which can force a vote on legislation in the House if it is signed by a majority of lawmakers.

“We’ve got to stop the partisanship on this issue. This is an issue where they both have shown real courage and leadership, and I appreciate them joining us today,” Khanna said of Greene and Massie.

The bipartisan press conference from representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna just started.

They’ll be providing an update about their petition to get a resolution, urging the release of the Epstein records, on the House floor for a vote.

The area outside the Capitol, known as the House Triangle, is packed with reporters and demonstrators. Signs calling Donald Trump “a pedophile” are raised alongside placards that accuse the Republican party of a cover-up.

The House oversight committee yesterday released about 30,000 pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, but, as the Guardian’s Dani Anguiano reports, most of the information in them was already public:

The US House of Representatives oversight committee on Tuesday released thousands of pages of records related to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from the department of justice.

The release comes as the Trump administration has been embroiled in months of controversy over its decision not to release additional files in the case. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges and was alleged to have abused hundreds of girls.

The 33,000 pages included years-old court filings related to Epstein and his former girlfriend and associate Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as what appears to be bodycam footage from police searches and police interviews. The files appear to contain information that is already public knowledge.

The records were posted online as the Trump administration was facing renewed attention on the investigation into Epstein. With Congress back in session this week, Democratic and Republican representatives had planned to hold press conferences to demand greater transparency from the administration in the case.

Donald Trump, a longtime friend of Epstein and part of his rich and powerful social circle, has, in recent weeks, tried to avoid the subject. Earlier this year he sued the Wall Street Journal for its reporting on his relationship with Epstein on a birthday note Trump was alleged to have written to him. The president has called the recent Epstein controversy a hoax.

This “Stand with Survivors” outside the Capitol today rally aims to center those who suffered at the hands of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It’s separate from the bipartisan press conference by lawmakers calling for the complete release of the Epstein files that is scheduled to begin at 10.30am.

“We are here to say, we see you, we believe you and we will not stop until justice is served,” said Skye Roberts, the brother of Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year after years of speaking out about the abuse she experienced at the hands of Maxwell and Epstein.

“Ghislaine Maxwell must remain in a maximum security prison for the rest of her sentence. No leniency, no deals, no special treatment,” he added. “The Epstein documents must be unsealed. Every name, every detail, no more secrets, no more protection for those who preyed on the vulnerable.”

Signs at the rally are dotted among the crowd, many echoing messages of support for survivors: “We love you” and “we believe you”. While others are more pointed, reading “guardians of the pedophiles” under pictures of Donald Trump and Epstein together.

Teresa Helm, who was trafficked and groomed by Ghislaine Maxwell, told the crowd here that change was a foot. “Systems built with a root of corruption, violence and deceit always crumble,” she said. “Now is the time to sift through and get rid of the perpetrators and bad actors.”

Survivors of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and their advocates are rallying outside the Capitol to push for the release of documents related to the government’s investigation of the disgraced financier and alleged sex trafficker.

“Our call to action is crystal clear,” said Lauren Hersh, national director of anti-trafficking group World Without Exploitation, who called to “release the files” related to the case.

Liz Stein spoke at the rally to describe the abuse she faced by Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell:

I was once bright, fun, outgoing and kind. I loved people and people genuinely enjoyed being around me, but after meeting Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, it felt like someone shut off the lights to my soul. Instead of pursuing my dream of going to law school after graduation, overcoming the terror and the trauma that was inflicted on me by these sex traffickers, overcoming that, became my decades long, full-time career.

The rally came as a bipartisan group of House lawmakers attempt to force a vote on legislation to release files related to the case, over the objections of Donald Trump, who was once friendly with Epstein, and Republican speaker Mike Johnson:

Hundreds of current and former employees of the department of health and human services are calling on secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr to quit, the Guardian’s Richard Luscombe reports. Here’s why:

A letter published on Wednesday from more than 1,000 past and present workers of the health and human services department (HHS) has demanded the resignation of Robert F Kennedy Jr, insisting the health secretary’s attacks on vaccines endangered the lives of all Americans.

The hard-hitting letter, addressed to Congress members, blames Kennedy for turmoil at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including the firing of the agency’s chief and replacement by a Donald Trump loyalist with no medical or scientific background.

It comes two days after nine former CDC officials wrote in a New York Times guest essay that Kennedy’s leadership, and ousting of the CDC director, Susan Monarez, months after he appointed her, was “unacceptable” and “unlike anything we have ever seen”.

The letter posted on Wednesday by a group calling itself Save HHS assails Kennedy for “endangering the nation’s health by spreading inaccurate health information”.

It cites the resignations of other leading health officials, including Demetre Daskalakis, director of CDC’s national center for immunization and respiratory diseases; Daniel Jernigan, the agency’s director for emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases; and Debra Houry, its chief medical officer.

The Democratic vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee Mark Warner said the Trump administration cancelled his visit to a government facility after pressure from far-right activist Laura Loomer.

Warner said he was going to visit the headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in his home state of Virginia, but the administration disinvited him after Loomer launched “a campaign of baseless attacks” against him and the agency’s director, Trey Whitworth.

“This nakedly political decision undermines the dedicated, nonpartisan staff at NGA and threatens the principle of civilian oversight that protects our national security. Members of Congress routinely conduct meetings and on-site engagements with federal employees in their states and districts; blocking and setting arbitrary conditions on these sessions sets a dangerous precedent, calling into question whether oversight is now allowed only when it pleases the far-right fringe,” Warner said in a statement.

“This should concern Republicans as well as Democrats: if routine oversight can be obstructed for political reasons, no member of Congress is immune.”

The Trump administration’s deployment of warships towards Venezuela prompted concerns in the country that the United States was planning an invasion. Here’s more, from the Guardian’s Tom Phillips and Patricia Torres:

As US warships carrying cruise missiles and marines powered towards Venezuela’s coastline this week, supporters of the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, warned a dastardly imperialist plot for an Iraq-style invasion was afoot.

“No one will lay their hands on this land!” Maduro thundered, calling on patriots to help repel the supposed regime change operation by joining his “Bolivarian militia”.

Donald Trump’s allies posted incendiary social media messages, warning the Venezuelan autocrat the end was nigh. “Your days are seriously numbered,” Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, proclaimed, urging Maduro to buy “a one-way ticket to Moscow”.

Another Trump supporter, Congressman Carlos Gimenez, celebrated “the largest military presence we have ever had off the coast of Venezuela” and told Maduro to accept “his time is up!”

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US will continue to use force against suspected drug traffickers, hours after the military destroyed a boat in the Caribbean that was thought to be carrying drugs from Venezuela.

In an interview with Fox News this morning, Hegseth said:

This is a deadly serious mission for us, and it won’t stop with just this strike. Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated Narco terrorist will face the same fate.

The US military said the strike killed 11 drug traffickers, days after the US deployed several warships into the Caribbean on what it said was a mission to stem the flow of narcotics into the United States. Here’s more: