- - - The little-known tool that could force Trump’s hand on the Epstein files

Analysis by Aaron Blake, CNNJuly 18, 2025 at 2:23 AM

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn upon arrival at the White House in Washinton DC, on Sunday. - Allison Robbert/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump has gone to great lengths in recent days to quash the Jeffrey Epstein fervor in his party. It doesn’t seem to be working — and one particular effort to force the release of more files could spiral out of his control.

Last week, Trump’s Justice Department published an unsigned memo that concluded the sex offender had killed himself and that no so-called client list existed. Since then, Trump has called people who have pushed for more answers – seemingly including GOP members of Congress, top members of his own administration and MAGA influencers – “weaklings” who have been “duped” by a Democratic “hoax.” His consistent message: There’s nothing else to see here, move along.

But Trump allies keep raising questions. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed nearly as many Republicans disapproved of the administration’s handling of the matter (36%) as approved (40%). And a CNN poll showed 40% of Republicans said they were “dissatisfied” with the government’s disclosures in the Epstein case, while just 4% said they were satisfied.

If Republican members of Congress truly don’t want to let the issue lie, as several have indicated, they have a critical tool at their disposal: a discharge petition.

It’s an arcane procedure with a straightforward premise: If 218 members of the House sign one, they can force a floor vote in the chamber on anything — even if leadership opposes it.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has joined with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California to spearhead a discharge petition that would force a vote to release all of the Epstein files, and it’s showing early signs of life. Two other Republicans said Wednesday they would sign the petition — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Eric Burlison of Missouri.

Massie said five others have signed on to the underlying bill (but not yet the discharge petition). If six Republicans joined all 212 House Democrats on the petition, they could force the vote.

We’re a long way from that. There are reasons to be skeptical this this effort will ultimately force a vote, and even if the House ultimately approves it, there’s no telling if the Senate will take it up. Majority Leader John Thune indicated Thursday that he was “not hearing” GOP senators clamoring for a vote on releasing more Epstein files.

But it still matters. Here’s why.

The basics

A discharge petition is an oft-invoked tool that rarely leads to an actual vote. The basicidea is that you force House leadership to hold a vote by marshalling a clear majority of the House.

It requires 218 signatures – a majority of all 435 districts, rather than a majority of members present. That means it needs at least some members of the majority party to sign on, and vacancies don’t lower the threshold.

It rarely succeeds in forcing a vote because lawmakers in the majority are often hesitant to buck leadership. Leaders will do plenty to avoid ceding their control over the floor. So they could punish members who go this route or cut deals to avoid the embarrassment.

Only about 4% of discharge petitions have historically led to actual votes, according to Brookings Institution senior fellow Sarah Binder.

Political commentator Rogan O'Handley carrying a binder bearing the seal of the US Justice Department reading "The Epstein Files: Phase 1" walk out of the West Wing of the White House in Washington DC, on February 27. - Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesWhy Epstein could be different

But the Epstein documents could animate lawmakers to take that drastic step. The modern Republican Party is chock full of true-believers who don’t think Epstein killed himself and think there is a massive conspiracy involving influential people participating in sex trafficking. It might not be enough for the vast majority of House Republicans to aggressively defy leadership and Trump, but the most conspiratorial among them could be tempted.

Democrats also have reason to sign on, as they’ve made it clear they’re eager to press on an issue that divides Trump from his base.

Some could have qualms about truly releasing all of the Epstein files — files that could invoke people who haven’t been charged with crimes and seed unwarranted suspicions. The Justice Department has cited that and the fact that many of the documents are under seal by the courts as reasons for not releasing more.

But despite those qualms, Wednesday showed this could have some momentum.

How the effort could succeed without a vote

And the effort is worth watching even if it doesn’t ultimately force a vote, because that’s not the only measure of success.

As Binder has noted, the mere threat of a discharge petition can be enough to force leaders to act in one way or another. While discharge petitions only lead to actual votes on the desired measure about 4% of the time, they’ve led to either that or votes on similar measures about 8% of the time.

It’s possible the threat of embarrassing Trump, by making it look like he’s not in control of his party, would be enough to spur the administration to release more. Or maybe the House could take other actions — perhaps a vote on a partial release or an investigation — to quash the dissent.

The state of play

So where do we go from here?

It’s tempting to just look at the raw numbers of members who say they’ll sign the petition, and we’ll certainly do that in the coming days — particularly the Republicans. But as congressional expert Matt Glassman of Georgetown University told CNN, that number can be misleading.

He notes what a discharge petition really requires is not just 218 members, but 218 “hellbent” members — lawmakers that won’t back down, even in the face of leadership pressure, and will really force the issue.

“Trump seems very involved here, and not too many members want to stick their necks out against him, even if it’s on an issue where the Trump GOP base seems split from the president,” Glassman said.

A telling detail: More Republicans are supporting the underlying bill than the discharge petition, at least for now. They don’t want to go that far, yet.

Getting a handful of members on board is one thing; becoming the decisive Republican and the 218th House member to greenlight something Trump doesn’t want is something else entirely.

The debate earlier this year over proxy voting in the House illustrates how such efforts can fizzle when leadership is determined to suppress them.

GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida spearheaded a discharge petition on a measure that would allow parents of newborns to vote by proxy, and it clearly had the support of a bipartisan majority of the House — mostly Democrats, but about a dozen Republicans, too. Ultimately, rather than actually forcing that vote, Luna cut a deal with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who fought hard against her efforts, on a watered-down proposal.

That’s why “hellbent” members are critical.

And there’s a significant difference between the proxy voting proposal and Epstein. That involved challenging Johnson, who was dead-set against the idea, even as Trump appeared amenable to it and said so publicly. A discharge petition on Epstein means going at Trump, a much more severe undertaking.

If nothing else, the discharge petition will test just how serious Republicans are about getting more information about Epstein.

This story has been with additional developments.

Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Politics”