For all the latest developments in Congress, follow WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller at Today on the Hill.
The political furor over the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has led the House GOP leadership to cut short legislative work this week and lawmakers will begin their summer break early, with no vote on proposals seeking the release of information in the case.
The House will finish up Wednesday, then begin a recess that will last through August, with lawmakers returning in September.
“We’re not going to play political games with this,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday. “There’s no purpose for Congress to push an administration to do something that they’re already doing.”
Johnson pointed to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request on behalf of the Justice Department for grand jury records from the Epstein case.
Johnson has declined to bring up measures that seek to force the release of documents in the case of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while behind bars awaiting trial on allegations he had sex with underage girls.
Many of President Donald Trump’s supporters remain upset with the administration for not doing more to release information in the case, after he and his MAGA allies promoted various conspiracy theories, including that Epstein had a client list that may have included the rich and powerful.
House panel to subpoena Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell
Meanwhile, a subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday voted to subpoena convicted sex offender and longtime Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. The motion was made by Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee’s 2nd District.
Maxwell is serving time in a federal prison and the committee plans to work with the Justice Department to determine a date when she can be deposed.
Separately, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that the Justice Department wants to interview Maxwell.
Prosecutors said Maxwell played a key role in helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
Democrats try to force difficult votes for Republicans
The House Rules Committee met Monday to consider bills, but the panel broke up, after Democrats tried to get a floor vote on a resolution to force the administration to release Epstein documents.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican representing Kentucky’s 4th District, has been pressing to get his bipartisan legislation considered on the floor that would require the release of relevant files. He has sought to use a discharge petition to force a vote, which is a procedure rarely used by a member of the House majority.
“I don’t understand Thomas Massie’s motivation, I really don’t,” Johnson said during a Tuesday news conference. “I don’t know how his mind works. I don’t know what he’s thinking.”
Massie’s legislation is cosponsored by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, of California’s 17th District.
The chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Pete Aguilar, who represents California’s 33rd District, said Democrats will continue to press for information linked to the Epstein case.
“Donald Trump, his son and his closest friends spent years fanning the flame of this theory and now we’re holding them accountable,” Aguilar said.
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