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Rules Committee rejects move to replace nonbinding resolution with law to release Epstein files; Democrats press for binding bill
Summary
A partisan fight over how to force release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein played out in the Rules Committee. Democrats sought to convert the committee's nonbinding House resolution into a binding bill (H.R. 4405) for immediate floor consideration; the committee rejected amendments to that effect and approved a nonbinding resolution instead.
The House Rules Committee on Thursday heard an extended and often heated debate over how Congress should press for release of records related to Jeffrey Epstein. Democratic members sought an enforceable statute and prompt floor action on a bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives Massey and Ro Khanna (H.R. 4405). Committee Republicans advanced a nonbinding House resolution instead.
Representative McGovern, the Rules Committee ranking member, opened the topic by saying his side had offered language to require the Department of Justice to preserve and release Epstein-related files and that previous attempts to obtain related materials had failed. "Either there's nothing here and Trump made all this up ... Or there are files and you guys wanna keep them hidden because you're afraid what's in them," McGovern said.
Democrats asked the committee to report the bipartisan Massey–Khanna measure for immediate floor action. That bill would direct the attorney general to preserve and release a defined set of records and include privacy…
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