This coming week is expected to deliver the moment that House Speaker Mike Johnson has been forestalling in one form or another for nearly four months: when the House votes on whether to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
It was way back in late July that Johnson sent the House off on a five-week recess a day early to quell a growing Republican revolt. He later kept the House out of session for an extraordinarily long time during the shutdown. This carried the benefit – whether it was the express purpose or not – of giving him an excuse not to swear in the decisive 218th member to force the vote.
President Donald Trump, too, clearly did not want this vote. He waged an unsuccessful 11th-hour campaign on Wednesday to flip the handful of Republicans who signed the “discharge petition.”
But the vote now looms, with Johnson announcing plans to schedule it for next week. So, what happens next? What could the vote mean? And what are the political dynamics?
It’s hardly the end of the road, but it’s clearly a significant moment that could set the Epstein saga off on a new trajectory.
Continue Reading on CNN
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.