Rep. Ro Khanna leads bipartisan push for full release of Epstein files

Rep. Ro Khanna of California is leading a bipartisan effort to force the Trump administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all federal records related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

On July 15, Khanna introduced an amendment to a government spending bill that would have required the Justice Department to make all Epstein files public within 30 days. The amendment was rejected in the House Rules Committee by a close 6-5 vote, with only Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina joining Democrats in support.

Later that day, a procedural motion to bring the measure to a full House vote failed by a single vote, 211-210, mostly along party lines.

After the failed vote, Khanna partnered with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky to launch a discharge petition aimed at forcing a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. This process allows a bill to bypass committee if it gathers 218 signatures from House members.

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Eric Burlison of Missouri have announced they will sign the petition, and Massie said five additional Republicans back the underlying bill. If all Democrats and at least six Republicans sign on, the House would be required to hold a vote. Discharge petitions are rarely successful because House leadership typically discourages majority party members from participating.

Khanna has framed the effort as a test of congressional accountability.

“This is a matter of whose side are you on. Are you for protecting rich and powerful men or are you for making sure that there’s accountability given that they abused, assaulted and abandoned young girls? A nation that does not hold powerful men accountable is a nation that has lost its moral purpose,” Khanna told Newsweek. “I am going to fight with everything I can just to make sure that this file gets released.”