Congressional Democrats are attempting to utilize the Jeffrey Epstein controversy to create internal divisions within the Republican Party, which is currently experiencing fractures over the matter. However, their efforts are constrained by the House majority’s actions, which have limited their ability to hold GOP members accountable. The Democrats’ strategy to leverage the Epstein issue has been hindered by the GOP’s control over procedural mechanisms, including the rejection of a key investigative tool.
Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas), for instance, introduced a nonbinding resolution Monday to demand the Trump administration release all its files related to Epstein, but that legislation is unlikely to ever get a vote on the House floor. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) had slightly more success mounting an effort to amend cryptocurrency-related legislation scheduled to hit the House floor later this week to compel the release of Epstein-related files. Democrats forced a Rules Committee vote on whether to allow a floor vote on Khanna’s amendment; Republicans voted it down, though one Rules member in their ranks, Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, crossed party lines.
On the floor Tuesday afternoon, House Democrats attempted to cast a procedural vote as a referendum on releasing the so-called Epstein files. Had their effort to vote down the motion succeeded, they said, they would have moved forward with Khanna’s amendment. But the “previous question” vote, which hasn’t been won by the House minority since 1988, prevailed 211-210 on party lines. This outcome underscores the significant challenges Democrats face in pushing for transparency and accountability related to the Epstein case, despite the ongoing internal divisions within the Republican Party.