• Discharge petition reaches 218 signatures forcing vote on Epstein file release
• Republicans Warren Davidson and Eli Crane announce yes votes on bill
• Seven legislative days must pass before House can schedule vote

WASHINGTON (TDR) — Multiple House Republicans announced Wednesday they would vote to release Jeffrey Epstein files after a bipartisan discharge petition reached the 218 signatures needed to force a floor vote, despite White House pressure to block the effort.

Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Eli Crane of Arizona told reporters they would vote yes on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, while Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said on MSNBC he would support releasing all files. The growing Republican support comes as newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona provided the crucial 218th signature Wednesday afternoon.

Momentum builds despite White House opposition

“I’ve already had a couple Republicans tell my office privately that they’re going to vote for it, and I think that could snowball,” Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who co-sponsored the petition with Rep. Ro Khanna of California, told CNN Wednesday. The discharge petition mechanism allows lawmakers to bypass House Speaker Mike Johnson and force a vote on legislation.

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President Donald Trump personally called Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado on Tuesday pressuring her to withdraw support for the petition, according to The New York Times. Boebert attended a White House meeting Wednesday but told reporters she would not remove her name. Other Republican signatories include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.

Bacon criticized the administration’s handling of the issue as “the worst PR job I’ve seen anywhere” during his MSNBC appearance. “I’m not gonna vote against being transparent,” the Nebraska Republican said, though he declined to sign the discharge petition itself.

Procedural timeline and Senate prospects

Under House rules, seven legislative days must pass after reaching 218 signatures before a vote can occur. With the House taking a Thanksgiving recess, the earliest a vote could happen is the first week of December. Johnson then has two legislative days to schedule the vote, though he told reporters last month “if they get their signatures, it goes to a vote.”

The Epstein Files Transparency Act would require the Justice Department to publicly disclose all unclassified records related to Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in 2019, or his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a prison sentence.

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Even if the bill passes the House, it faces significant hurdles in the Republican-controlled Senate, where 60 votes would be needed to advance. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN he was “not sure what that achieves” when asked about voting on the bill. In September, Senate Republicans defeated a similar amendment by Chuck Schumer in a 51-49 vote.

New emails fuel controversy

The vote comes as House Democrats released new Epstein emails Wednesday mentioning Trump, including one where Epstein wrote “of course [Trump] knew about the girls.” House Republicans countered by releasing 20,000 pages of documents from the Epstein estate showing the financier expressing displeasure with Trump’s presidency.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of “selectively” leaking emails to create a “fake narrative,” calling the controversy a hoax designed to distract from Trump’s accomplishments.

Should Congress force the release of all government files related to the Epstein investigation?

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