Republican Representatives Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Brian Jack of Georgia and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania sided with Democrats as a House subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the Department of Justice for records related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation.
Just hours before the House was set to adjourn for its monthlong July recess, a subcommittee of the powerful House Oversight Committee voted for the motion, introduced by Democrats. It passed in an 8-2 vote with the support of the three Republicans—marking a rare bipartisan move in a deeply divided Congress.
Democrats made the motion in a calculated push to pressure GOP lawmakers into action, casting inaction as complicity with former President Donald Trump. “If the Republican Party, if our colleagues on this committee don’t join us in this vote, then what they’re essentially doing is joining President Donald Trump in complicity,” said Rep. Summer Lee, the Pennsylvania Democrat who introduced the motion, while speaking to reporters outside the hearing room.
Associated Press
Rep. Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican and the subcommittee’s chair, acknowledged the vote’s significance and said drafting of the subpoena had begun, though he noted it would take time for both parties to finalize the language. Meanwhile, Democrats ramped up their rhetoric, accusing Republican leadership of stonewalling transparency and abandoning promises of accountability.
“They’re fleeing our work, our job and sending us back home because they don’t want to vote to release these files,” said Lee. “This is something that they ran on. This is something that they talked about: the importance of transparency, holding pedophiles accountable.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, under pressure from both Trump and rank-and-file lawmakers, has so far resisted advancing legislation to release the Epstein files. Earlier Wednesday, Johnson told reporters that legislative action was unnecessary because the Trump administration was “already doing everything within their power to release them.” But Democrats have seized on the issue, using it to stall the GOP’s legislative agenda and to highlight divisions within the Republican ranks.
At a press conference, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries tied the Epstein files to broader concerns about elite privilege and lack of government accountability. “Why haven’t Republicans released the Epstein files to the American people?” Jeffries asked. “It’s reasonable to conclude that Republicans are continuing to protect the lifestyles of the rich and the shameless, even if that includes pedophiles. So it’s all connected.”
Democrats are framing the debate as part of a larger battle over the soul of government, especially as Congress prepares for a messaging war over Trump’s sweeping tax and spending proposals. “This goes to a fundamental sense of, ‘Is our government co-opted by rich and powerful people that isn’t looking out for ordinary Americans? Or can we have a government that looks out for ordinary Americans?'” said Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, who has introduced bipartisan legislation to force the DOJ to release the Epstein files.
Republican leaders, however, accuse Democrats of exploiting the issue for political gain and note that the investigation continued under President Joe Biden’s Justice Department. Meanwhile, the Trump DOJ is also pushing for the release of testimony from secret grand jury proceedings, although that effort is unlikely to yield significant new revelations.
On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee, with bipartisan support, also approved a subpoena for a deposition from Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate. But some lawmakers cautioned against placing too much weight on her testimony. “It’s a good idea, but it’s not enough. It’s not nearly enough,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican backing the push for broader access to the records.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
