Johnson to end House session early to avoid vote to release Epstein files

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that he is ending the lower chamber's session early, in an effort to avoid a vote to release files on the deceased financier, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The session will end on Wednesday afternoon, The New York Times reported.

“We’re done being lectured on transparency,” Johnson said at a news conference on Tuesday.

He noted the “endless efforts to politicize the Epstein investigation,” adding, “We’re not going to play political games with this.”

Johnson's move is to prevent the Democrats from trying to force procedural votes on measures that would request the Department of Justice to release information on Epstein. The effort came after the House Rules Committee shut down the panel on Monday over a bipartisan effort to get the chamber to force the release of the Epstein files.

Meanwhile, a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on Tuesday voted to subpoena Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition.