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美眾院通過公佈艾普斯坦檔案 -- Dylan Stableford
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請參考
* Shocking new poll: Here’s what Americans think Trump knew of Epstein
* The prospect of an embarrassing defeat convinced Trump to reverse course on Epstein files
House votes to release the Epstein files
The vote was 427-1, with Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana, being the only member to vote against it.
Dylan Stableford, 11/19/25
Overcoming months of opposition from President Trump and his Republican allies, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill to compel the Justice Department to release all of its files related to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The vote was 427-1, with Rep. Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana, being the only member to vote against it.
The bipartisan measure, introduced in July by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and cosponsored by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, would require the DOJ to “publish (in a searchable and downloadable format) all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” related to Epstein within 30 days.
Trump, who for months had opposed the release of the files, reversed course on Sunday, urging House Republicans to vote for their disclosure “because we have nothing to hide.”
Some of Epstein’s survivors watched the vote from the House gallery, and cheered after the bill was passed.
The legislation now heads to the Senate, which must pass it before it is sent to Trump. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, has not committed to bringing the measure to a vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who himself had tried to block a vote from coming to the House floor, voted in favor of the release of the files. But he also called on the Senate to amend the legislation, claiming that there is no protection for victims in the bill.
Massey objected to the idea, saying it contains a provision that does just that.
"Do not let the Senate muck this bill up,” Massey said in a floor speech before the vote.
Trump told reporters on Monday that he would sign the bill into law if it were to reach his desk.
“Sure, I would,” Trump said. “Let the Senate look at it. Let anybody look at it.”
As many observers, including some Democratic critics, noted, Trump has the power to release the files himself without congressional approval.
"If the president is true to his word and wants to see all of this come to light, he can release it now," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland.
How we got here
Epstein has long been the focus of unfounded conspiracy theories that claim the financier — who was found dead in his jail cell in Manhattan in August 2019 after his indictment on federal sex trafficking charges — was actually murdered to conceal the names of powerful people on a secret “client list.” The theories were fueled by Trump and some of his most prominent supporters.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump said he would consider releasing additional government files on Epstein. Shortly after taking office in January, Trump directed the Justice Department to conduct an exhaustive review of the evidence collected on Epstein.
In July, the DOJ and FBI released a two-page joint memo concluding Epstein had “committed suicide in his cell" and compiled no “client list” — adding that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
The move enraged some Trump loyalists, who accused the president and his administration of breaking their promise to release all of the Epstein files. It also put the spotlight back on Trump’s own relationship with Epstein.
Trump then lashed out at supporters for their interest in what he repeatedly referred to as the “Epstein Hoax.”
Khanna introduced the bill to compel the DOJ to release all of its investigative material on Epstein the same month.
In September, Massie introduced a discharge petition, which allows House members to bypass House leadership to force a vote on any matter if they can get a majority of members — 218 — to sign it.
Massie and three other House Republicans — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado — joined all Democrats in signing it.
Newly elected Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, whom Johnson had refused to seat during the government shutdown, was the final signatory, forcing Tuesday’s full floor vote on Epstein.
“These women have fought the most horrific fight that no woman should have to fight. And they did it by banding together and never giving up," Greene said at a news conference alongside some of Epstein’s survivors outside the Capitol Tuesday morning. “That’s what we did by fighting so hard against the most powerful people in the world, even the president of the United States, in order to make this vote happen today.”
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共和黨眾院議員以民生為重 – Kevin Freking/Lisa Mascaro
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請參考：17 Republicans vote to restore lapsed Obamacare subsidies
House takes step toward extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, overpowering GOP leadership
KEVIN FREKING/LISA MASCARO, 01/08//26
WASHINGTON (AP) — Overpowering Speaker Mike Johnson, a bipartisan coalition in the House voted Wednesday to push forward a measure that would revive an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowered health insurance costs for roughly 22 million people, but that had expired last month.
The tally of 221-205 was a key test before passage of the bill, which is expected Thursday. And it came about because four GOP centrist lawmakers joined with Democrats in signing a so-called discharge petition to force the vote. After last year's government shutdown failed to resolve the issue, they said doing nothing was not an option as many of their constituents faced soaring health insurance premiums beginning this month.
Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, one of the Republicans who crossed party lines to back the Democratic proposal, portrayed it as a vehicle senators could use to reach a compromise.
“No matter the issue, if the House puts forward relatively strong, bipartisan support, it makes it easier for the senators to get there,” Lawler said.
In the end, nine Republicans joined Democrats to advance the measure.
Republicans go around their leaders
If ultimately successful in the House this week, the voting would show there is bipartisan support for a proposed three-year extension of the tax credits that are available for those who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The action of forcing a vote has been an affront to Johnson and GOP leaders, who essentially lost control of their House majority as the renegade lawmakers joined Democrats for the workaround.
But the Senate is under no requirement to take up the bill.
Instead, a small group of members from both parties is working on an alternative plan that could find support in both chambers and become law. One proposal would be to shorten the extension of the subsidy to two years and make changes to the program.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said any plan passing muster in the Senate will need to have income limits to ensure that it's focused on those who most need the help and that beneficiaries would have to at least pay a nominal amount for their coverage.
That way, he said, “insurance companies can't game the system and auto-enroll people.” Finally, Thune said there would need to be some expansion of health savings accounts, which allow people to save money and withdraw it tax-free as long as the money is spent on qualified medical expenses.
Democrats are pressing the issue
It's unclear whether the negotiations will yield a bill that the Senate will take up. Democrats are making clear that the higher health insurance costs many Americans are facing will be a political centerpiece of their efforts to retake the majority in the House and Senate in the fall elections.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who led his party's effort to push the health care issue forward, particularly challenged Republicans in competitive congressional districts to join if they really wanted to prevent steep premium increases for their constituents. Before Wednesday's vote, he called on colleagues to “address the health care crisis in this country and make sure that tens of millions of people have the ability to go see a doctor when they need one.”
Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Robert Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie, all from Pennsylvania, and Lawler signed the Democrats' petition, pushing it to the magic number of 218 needed to force a House vote. All four represent key swing districts whose races will help determine which party takes charge of the House next year.
Johnson, R-La., had discussed allowing more politically vulnerable GOP lawmakers a chance to vote on bills that would temporarily extend the subsidies while also adding changes such as income caps for beneficiaries. But after days of discussions, the leadership sided with the more conservative wing of the party’s conference, which has assailed the subsidies as propping up a failed program.
Lawmakers turn to discharge petitions to show support for an action and potentially force a vote on the House floor, but they are rarely successful. This session of Congress has proven an exception.
A vote requiring the Department of Justice to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, for instance, occurred after Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced a petition on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The signature effort was backed by all House Democrats and four Republicans.
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