In a town that can’t agree on what day it is, the House of Representatives just did something close to unheard of. It voted 427–1 to force the Department of Justice to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Read that again.
On one of the most radioactive topics in American public life, the political class suddenly discovered near-total consensus. The Epstein Files Transparency Act passed with only a single “no” vote, ordering DOJ to publish its unclassified records on Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — including communications, investigative materials, and references to government officials — with victims protected but “embarrassment” and “political sensitivity” explicitly not accepted as excuses.
That margin matters more than any speech delivered today. When 427 members sign off on cracking open a can of worms that potentially implicates their donors, peers, and allies, it tells you they’re more afraid of us than of each other.
The bill now walks into the Senate’s procedural swamp, where “concerns about victims” and “national security” can still be weaponized to stall, dilute, or bury it. DOJ will get its chance to hide behind “ongoing investigations” and black highlighters.
The almost-unanimous vote isn’t the end of the story, however. It’s just the beginning.
