US Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican from South Dakota, speaks with reporters outside his office on day 41 of the federal government shutdown, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, November 10, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
A bill forcing the Department of Justice to release its files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein officially passed both chambers of Congress on Wednesday, sending it to President Donald Trump to be signed into law.
The bipartisan bill, which the House approved on Tuesday, passed immediately when it was sent to the Senate on Wednesday morning.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had secured a unanimous consent agreement, which allowed the legislation to sail through the upper chamber as soon as it was received.
Trump said Monday that he would sign the bill, which would release all the DOJ’s unclassified records relating to Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, among other information.
It was unclear exactly when Trump would sign the measure. The president plans to review the bill as soon as he receives it, a senior White House official told NBC News Wednesday morning.
The legislation received overwhelming support in the House, with all but one lawmaker, Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, voting for it on Tuesday.
Trump on Sunday night urged his GOP allies to back the measure, a major shift in his stance that reflected the bill’s growing momentum in Congress.
But the president has continued to fume about the focus on Epstein, calling it a “hoax” being pushed by Democrats to distract from his administration’s achievements.
He has repeatedly lashed out at reporters when asked about his connections to the late financer, who died by suicide in jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges. Trump and Epstein were friends until the early 2000s, but the two had a falling out years before Epstein’s death.
When an ABC News reporter asked Trump on Tuesday why he has not released the Epstein files on his own — as he has the power to do — the president insulted her and called for ABC’s broadcast license to be revoked.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Trump on the 2024 campaign trail suggested he would release files related to Epstein. In the early months of his second term, officials in his administration signaled they were pushing to disclose those files.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in February, for instance, that Epstein’s rumored “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now to review.” The same month, a group of pro-Trump influencers received binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” at the White House.
But those binders contained little new information. And the DOJ, in an unsigned memo in July, said that a review of its Epstein-related materials “revealed no incriminating ‘client list.'” The memo also included the agency’s conclusion that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
The announcement enraged both Democrats and some prominent voices in Trump’s base.
In subsequent months, scrutiny increased over Trump’s past association with Epstein.
In July, The Wall Street Journal reported the existence of a “bawdy” and cryptic note to Epstein bearing Trump’s signature, which was part of a collection of letters gathered for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Trump has denied writing the letter and filed a defamation lawsuit against the Journal’s publisher and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
The House Oversight Committee last week released thousands of documents it had obtained from Epstein’s estate through a subpoena, including emails showing Epstein discussing Trump.
In one email thread in 2018, Epstein wrote of Trump, “I know how dirty donald is.” In an April 2019 email to author Michael Wolff, Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls.” CNBC has not independently verified the emails, and it is unclear what Epstein was referring to.
House Democrats and a handful of Republicans sought to approve a discharge petition that would force a vote in the GOP-majority chamber on the bill to release the Epstein files. That effort was delayed for weeks by the government shutdown, which postponed the swearing-in of a Democratic lawmaker who would provide the last needed signature.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
