The Epstein files will be declassified. The US Senate gave the green light, after an overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives: “The American people have waited enough”

The Senate moved on Tuesday to approve legislation that would compel the release of investigative documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, just hours after the bill passed the House of Representatives almost unanimously.

PHOTO X / @RpsAgainstTrump

By unanimous consent, senators agreed to take up the measure as soon as it formally passes the House, which overwhelmingly approved it Tuesday by a vote of 427-1. Once submitted to the Senate, the law will automatically be approved and sent for promulgation. The president, who dropped his opposition when it became clear the bill would pass, said he would sign it, writes The Guardian.

“The American people have waited enough. Jeffrey Epstein's victims have waited enough”Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a speech from the podium. “Let the truth come out. Let transparency prevail.”

The Senate had not yet received the bill from the House when it adjourned Tuesday night.

Although Trump on Monday dismissed the outcry over the government's handling of the Epstein case, calling it a “democratic farce”finally relented and signaled his support for the House bill over the weekend, allowing Republicans to vote on the measure strongly demanded by a large portion of their constituents.

Overwhelming vote in the Chamber of Deputies

On Tuesday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, announced he would vote for the bill, virtually assuring its passage.

Democrats, along with Epstein's survivors and their lawyers, in the House balcony, erupted in applause after the vote. The only vote “against” came from Republican Clay Higgins of Louisiana, who said he feared the law would prevent public identifying details of witnesses, potential suspects and others involved in the investigation.

Several of the president's allies who voted for the bill did so only after criticizing it from the podium, arguing that Democrats would be disingenuous in their intentions, but that “we can't waste any more time” on this subject.

“As President Trump said, we have nothing to hide, nothing to hide here”said Republican Congressman Troy Nehls. “I vote to declassify the files so we can move forward and end the smear campaign invented by the Democrats. God bless Donald J. Trump!”

Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, argued that Democrats could have demanded the declassification of the files during the Biden administration. “Why now, after four years of doing nothing? Because attacking Donald Trump is their obsession.”

Even as he announced his support, Mike Johnson criticized the law, saying it did not sufficiently protect the victims of Epstein, a financier who died in 2019, a death ruled a suicide by investigators, while in custody awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

“All Republicans want to be on the record that they support full transparency, but they also want to point out that we're asking for some things to be corrected before the law goes forward and is finalized.”Johnson said.

Any amendment to the bill by the Senate would require it to go back to the House, which would delay implementation.

Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote on X that he is campaigning “for full transparency in the Epstein case as early as 2019” and that the Senate should vote on the bill “as soon as possible”.

The Epstein case reignites the political dispute

The Epstein case forcefully returned to the public eye in July when the Justice Department and FBI said they had nothing more to say publicly about the investigation — a stance contradicted by earlier statements by Trump and senior officials who had suggested they would declassify more information about Epstein's crimes and his ties to global elites once in office.

Soon after, four dissident House Republicans joined with all Democrats to force a vote on declassifying the files, despite Johnson's objections.

The initiative's leaders welcomed the impending vote, with Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna calling Tuesday “the first day of real reckoning for the Epstein class.”

“Because survivors have spoken, because of their courage, the truth will finally come out. And when it does, America will have a real moral confrontation. How could we allow this to happen?”Khanna said in a press conference, adding that this case is “one of the most horrific and disgusting corruption scandals in our country's history.”

Trump's friendship with Epstein continues to reverberate through American politics, as the disgraced former financier had ties to numerous influential figures in the US and abroad. The president's dramatic shift in attitude came after it became clear the bill would pass the Republican-controlled House, most likely with substantial support from his own party. In recent days, Trump has gone from open opposition to statements of indifference.

“I DON'T CARE!”he wrote in a social media post on Sunday. “All I care about is the Republicans getting back ON TOPIC.”

Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he did not want the Epstein scandal to “detract attention” from his administration's accomplishments and described the case as “a prank” ANDand “a problem of the Democrats”.