House Rules Committee advances rescissions bill to floor vote without Epstein amendment

The House Rules Committee on Thursday night advanced the Senate's version of the rescission package to a floor vote, but shot down a Democratic amendment that calls for the release of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.

The House already passed the $9 billion rescission package, which would pull funding for public broadcasting and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as other international assistance programs, but will have to vote on it again after the Senate version declined to withhold $400 million in AIDS funding for Africa.

Republicans on the Rules Committee declined to include the Epstein amendment in the rescission package but unveiled their own non-binding resolution in a separate rule that calls for more transparency related to the Epstein investigation, which comes as the Trump administration faces heavy criticism over its handling of the case. 

House Republicans face a Friday deadline to pass the rescission package, but the new resolution will not need to be voted on by Friday, Politico reported.

The resolution comes as President Donald Trump directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to release relevant grand jury testimony related to Epstein, pending court approval. 

The House is now debating the Senate's version of the rescission package.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.