Epstein files paralyse US House for the second week, political battles stall legislative business

To shield President Donald Trump from criticism related to the so-called Epstein files, Republican lawmakers have paralysed the House of Representatives for the second week straight.

Republican lawmakers have refused to convene proceedings in the House so they don’t have to take up motions moved by Democrats related to the Epstein Files.

The Epstein files refer to the purported evidence related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For years, far-right figures, including Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr and current FBI chief Kash Patel, peddled theories that Epstein’s crimes were covered up and he was killed to save powerful people. They said that the Epstein files had a ‘client list’ that contained names of powerful people who were clients of Epstein’s illicit sex business.

Earlier this month, however, the Trump administration announced that there was no foul play in Epstein’s death and that there was no client list . That led to an outrage among a section of Trump’s extremist Maga base . Those outraged accused the administration of a cover-up.

ALSO READ: Trump on Epstein timeline: A decades-long relationship faces new scrutiny by Maga

Democrats have joined the criticism and have sought to pressure the administration to release any and all documents related to Epstein. Republicans controlling the House have refused to convene to avoid taking up such motion and prevent Trump from facing embarrassment.

Democrats press Trump with Epstein saga

As Democrats have sought votes on the Epstein saga, Republicans have shut the proceedings for the rest of the session to avoid taking the vote. However, Democrats are still counting on support from a small bunch of Republican rebels to force a vote.

The Hill has reported that Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna have pledged to force a vote on their Epstein-release bill through the discharge petition process.

If Massie and Khanna can get 218 House members to sign on, which would mean that all Democratic representatives and all the Republicans who have already co-sponsored the bill would need to sign, they can back the Republican House leadership into a corner and force a vote.

However, any vote is unlikely to take place until at least after the House returns after the recess in September. By then, the Republicans hope that the outrage over Epstein files would have died down.