Upcoming House vote

What you need to know about the Epstein files and the upcoming House vote

From CNN's Elise Hammond

Jeffrey Epstein has been back in the news this week, and the rift between lawmakers and the Trump administration over releasing more information isn’t going away any time soon.

The House is expected to vote on a bill compelling the release of all of the Justice Department’s Epstein case files next week – earlier than expected.

So, here’s what to know.

• How this came about: Reps. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, and Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, successfully deployed an arcane tool in the chamber known as a discharge petition to force the vote. Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva was sworn in on Wednesday and became the final signature the petition needed to move forward.
• What day next week could this happen? While the floor schedule for next week has not yet been set, House Speaker Mike Johnson said leadership wants to bring up the measure “as soon as possible.” If it passes, there’s no guarantee the effort would get a vote in the GOP-led Senate. Majority Leader John Thune has cited the Justice Department’s release of thousands of pages related to the case as reasons for not needing to pass the bill in the chamber.
• White House efforts: In September, CNN reported that top congressional Republicans and White House allies were working behind the scenes to prevent the vote. And there was even a last-ditch effort by the president and his allies on Wednesday to engage with two of the Republican women helping the effort move forward before it was too late.
• Despite the pressure, some Republicans are expected to vote for the bill: Two more House Republicans — GOP Reps. Warren Davidson of Ohio and Eli Crane of Arizona — said they plan to vote for the bill to release the files. Neither had signed the discharge petition. Today, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN he expects the Epstein legislation to pass, and “potentially pass decisively.”
• This week’s release of documents: The House Committee on Oversight Committee on Wednesday released an additional 20,000 pages of documents the GOP-led panel had received from the late convicted sex offender’s estate. In emails released as part of the tranche, Epstein mentioned Donald Trump by name multiple times.