Demand Progress

The central battle behind the government shutdown is Republicans’ effort to cut health care spending. But Speaker Johnson and Trump get a benefit from Congress screeching to a halt: they can keep avoiding a vote on releasing the Epstein files.

A recent headline in New York Magazine reads, “Mike Johnson May Want a Government Shutdown to Avoid Epstein Files Vote.”¹ The shutdown comes just days after Speaker Johnson delayed swearing in newly elected Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva, who has pledged to be the 218th signature on the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the files.²

Trump and Johnson will do everything they can to avoid transparency about Epstein’s crimes and accomplices. Our lawmakers in the House must keep up the pressure to force a vote and support the release of the files!

Sign the petition: Don’t let Trump hide. Force a House vote to release the Epstein files!

Trump was close friends with Epstein, and the FBI has redacted Trump’s name from the files multiple times.^3,4 Speaker Johnson employed bogus legislative maneuvers and abruptly closed the U.S. House for summer recess to prevent a vote on the files.⁵ People across the Trump administration are enabling this cover-up.

Recently, FBI Director Kash Patel claimed that judges are blocking the release of some key documents. But the judges disagree, and are calling out the White House’s “hurried efforts” to “confuse the public.”⁶ One U.S. District Court judge said the Trump administration's move to limit the release of certain grand jury material is a “diversion from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the government’s possession.”⁷

Rep. Thomas Massie, one of the lawmakers leading the discharge petition to force a vote in Congress on releasing the files, said, “I believe that Trump is trying to protect rich and powerful people who are his friends, and that is why this material is not getting released.”⁸ Trump is also trying to protect himself.

The discharge petition has bipartisan support and is just one signature away from taking a big step toward answering the calls of survivors, advocates, and the public. Our lawmakers must release the files NOW.

Sign the petition: Urge your U.S. Representative to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files!

Sources:

1. NY Magazine, “Mike Johnson May Want a Government Shutdown to Avoid Epstein Files Vote,” September 25, 2025.
2. Bloomberg, “The House Has a New Democrat — and a Shrinking GOP Margin,” September 27, 2025.
3. Demand Progress, “Demand Progress Condemns Speaker Johnson’s New Epstein Coverup,” September 2, 2025.
4. Bloomberg, “FBI Redacted Trump’s Name in Epstein Files for Privacy Reasons,” August 1, 2025.
5. BBC, “US House speaker shuts down chamber to block Epstein vote,” July 22, 2025.
6. Politico, “Kash Patel says court orders bar him from releasing the Epstein files. Judges have said otherwise.” September 17, 2025.
7. Ibid.
8. The New Republic, “GOP Rep Rips Trump and Kash Patel for Covering Up Epstein Files Case,” September 22, 2025.