Mike Johnson Adjourns Lawmakers to an Early Recess to Avoid Voting on Epstein File Release

Democrats are continuing to pressure Donald Trump over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case—a matter that has shaken his typically loyal base. “It’s a clear case of Trump once again siding with the elites, because he’s one of them,” says Arizona senator Ruben Gallego, who introduced a resolution last week seeking the release of the Epstein files. “The American public deserves to know the truth, and I’m going to continue fighting to put Republicans on the record on this so that voters know where they stand.”

Democrats—who have struggled to find their footing in Trump’s second term—have spent more than a week hammering the president over both the documents and his past friendship with the late sexual predator, whose prison death in 2019 has been a galvanizing issue for the MAGA movement.

On Monday, House Republicans scrapped a Rules Committee meeting where Democrats had planned to force a vote to release Epstein-related materials, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise telling reporters the committee was “unlikely” to reconvene before the break. Then, on Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he would send lawmakers home early for August recess to avoid votes on releasing the Epstein files, accusing Democrats of trying to “politicize the Epstein investigation”: “We’re not going to play political games with this,” he said.

That comes after California Democrat Ro Khanna last week tried to add an amendment to a Trump-backed cryptocurrency bill that would have compelled the release of the Epstein files; it was blocked by Republicans in a Rules Committee vote. Another congressional Democrat—Marc Veasey of Texas—also introduced a resolution demanding the release of files related to Epstein and convicted fixer Ghislaine Maxwell. In the upper chamber, meanwhile, Gallego’s resolution was shot down Thursday when Republican senator Markwayne Mullin objected, describing the measure as “pure theater.”

But Democrats aren’t letting the issue go, seeking to fold scrutiny of Trump’s approach to Epstein into their broader critique of the administration: “There seems to be a prevailing theme,” as Veasey put it to me last week, “that Trump looks out for really rich people.”

The issue has fractured Trump’s base. Though most elected Republicans have closed ranks around him, a few members—including Thomas Massie, who has joined with Khanna in pushing for the release of Epstein documents—have been more critical. “We all deserve to know what’s in the Epstein files, who’s implicated, and how deep this corruption goes,” Massie wrote last week. “Americans were promised justice and transparency.”And indeed, some sects of MAGA world—which saw the circumstances around Epstein’s death as emblematic of the “deep state” corruption Trump said he’d root out—remain frustrated at the president and his administration for saying the well-connected multimillionaire did not keep a client list and that no further documents would be released.

Trump—who has fiercely denied wrongdoing and downplayed his well-documented previous friendship with Epstein—lashed out at those critics last week, accusing them of doing Democrats’ bidding and telling them he no longer wanted their support. “My PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’” the president wrote in a social media post, “hook, line, and sinker.” But that may have engendered more bitterness among some in his base: “I just can’t accept being blatantly gaslit by people in power, even if they’re people I otherwise support,” the conservative commentator Matt Walsh said on his program last week. “The number one way to guarantee I keep talking about something is to yell at me to stop talking about it.”

For Democrats, that has meant not only a fresh line of attack against Trump, but, they hope, an opportunity to pierce the MAGA bubble that has insulated him the past decade. “While he has been doing everything he can to make the wealthy wealthier and to please the well-connected who helped finance his campaign, he’s also apparently tried to protect those same elites by refusing to release the Epstein files,” Representative Hank Johnson told me. Last week, Johnson posted a song on social media crooning that Trump should “release the Epstein files soon.” (“We’ve gone along with what we’ve been told / You’ve had plenty of time, you’re in control / But now you say you will withhold the Epstein files.”)

The Epstein matter has shown more staying power than some other Trump scandals. As GOP leadership planned to break for August recess without any action on Epstein, the pro-Trump influencer Theo Von called on X for Khanna and Massie’s legislation to be put for a vote. Khanna, who appeared on Von’s show last month, told me that post underscored that “many on the left and the right are speaking up about releasing the Epstein files.

“It is a simple question,” Khanna said. “Whose side are you on? That of rich and powerful men who abused young girls, or America’s children?”

But Trump has been working to cloud the issue. Already, the president has been able to tamp down some internal dissent by blaming Democrats, who Republicans have accused of acting in bad faith. After The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday evening that Trump had apparently sent Epstein a lewd drawing—and suggestive note—for his 50th birthday, a number of allies and supporters seized on it as an opportunity to blame the media. “This story is complete and utter bullshit,” Vice President JD Vance, who’d previously called for the release of the files, posted on X, describing the Journal’s reporting as a “hoax.” (Trump filed a lawsuit against the paper’s publisher, Dow Jones, and its parent company, News Corp. A Dow Jones spokesperson said, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.” Press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told Politico on Monday that the paper had been removed from the White House press pool covering Trump’s trip to Scotland.) And Trump has tried more recently to appease critics by allowing for some Epstein materials to be released, while directing supporters’ attention to other matters—like a supposed conspiracy by former president Barack Obama to drag him down, demands about sports-team names, and bizarre social media posts.

Trump’s efforts to distract supporters and intimidate critics pose a “big challenge” to Democrats, Johnson, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, told me. The party has “a lot of headwinds to work against,” the congressman said. “But somehow, we’re going to have to work as hard as we can to defeat those headwinds and break through to the American people.”

The Secret Lives of Brando, Pacino, Dolly Parton, and More

The Best TV Shows of 2025, So Far