Senate Blocks Schumer’s Bid to Release Epstein Files

Lead The Senate voted 51-49 on Wednesday to table Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s amendment directing the Justice Department to disclose all Jeffrey Epstein files, highlighting intra-GOP divisions over transparency in Washington.

Nut Graf Schumer’s surprise maneuver-tacked onto the annual defense authorization bill-aimed to force Attorney General Pam Bondi to make public any available documents related to the late financier. The failed effort nonetheless underscored growing pressure from both chambers to compel release of the contested files, even as House lawmakers edge closer to triggering a discharge petition.

GOP Ranks Hold-and Fracture

Schumer seized on ongoing National Defense Authorization Act negotiations to tee up a procedural vote on his amendment. While most Senate Republicans rallied to table the measure, Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) broke ranks to oppose the motion, siding with all 47 Democrats in insisting on disclosure.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune dismissed the gambit as a “political stunt,” arguing that it risked derailing bipartisan work on the defense bill. Schumer countered that Americans deserved to see “everything that’s in the Epstein file,” accusing opponents of perpetuating “lying, obfuscation, cover-ups”.

Pressure Mounts Across Capitol Hill

  • House Discharge Petition Nears Threshold Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.) have already secured 217 signatures on a bipartisan discharge petition to force a floor vote on identical language. Newly sworn Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.) added his name on Thursday, leaving just one more signature needed to bypass Speaker Mike Johnson’s opposition.

  • Senate Finance Probe Expands Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), ranking member of the Finance Committee, introduced a bill requiring the Treasury Department to surrender all suspicious activity reports filed by banks on Epstein’s transactions, intensifying scrutiny of his financial network and the banks that served him.

What’s Next

If the House petition reaches 218 signatures-likely by month’s end-Republicans will be powerless to block a discharge vote, potentially compelling at least one chamber to formally press the Justice Department for document release. Meanwhile, Schumer and fellow Democrats vow to keep spotlight on the issue, framing it as a test of GOP willingness to embrace transparency on a case that has fueled conspiracy theories and scrutiny of former President Trump’s ties to Epstein.