Johnson says vote on Epstein files to take place next week after discharge petition

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday night said he would bring a petition to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein to a floor vote next week, now that the bipartisan discharge petition has enough signatures to force action on the matter.

Arizona Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva became the final lawmaker to sign the petition after she was sworn into the lower chamber earlier Wednesday. Several Republicans have also signed it, including South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace.

The petition itself will not force the release of the files, but is merely a vote that will force lawmakers to go on the record with their position on the release. A discharge petition forces a bill or resolution to be brought directly to the House floor for consideration, even if it's previously been held up in the committee process.

Johnson told reporters that Republicans will bring the matter up for a formal vote after the House returns from the weekend, and that Democrats prevented them from voting on it earlier in the day, The Hill reported. 

“As soon as the discharge petition received the 218th signature, we brought it up on unanimous consent, and that would, as you know, make it — would get it through the process immediately," Johnson said. "The Democrats shockingly opposed it. So it was a staggering level of hypocrisy.

"I think some of them regretted it, because within about a half hour of that, there was a lot of confusion, and some of them claim that they did not object, but they did, and that’s what happened on the floor," he continued. “So we’re going to put that on the floor for a full vote next week, soon as we get back."

The comment comes after Tennessee GOP Rep. Tim Burchett called for unanimous consent on the Epstein Transparency Act, but Arkansas GOP Rep. Steve Womack ruled the request was out of order and he cannot "entertain the request unless it is cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leaderships.”

The petition also comes after House Oversight Republicans released 20,000 pages of documents from Epstein's estate, hours after Democrats on the committee released emails from Epstein that mention President Trump. 

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