First Steps Taken to Vote on Discharge Petition to Release Epstein Files. Blight House Probot says Supporting It "Would be a Hostile Act"

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., the conservative firebrand who's clashed with Donald Trump and other GOP leaders, filed a discharge petition Tuesday to force a floor vote compelling the Justice Department to release all the files from the Jeffrey Epstein case.

It's one of the first House actions as lawmakers return to Washington from their five-week summer recess. And the issue is sure to dominate Capitol Hill this week, as sexual abuse survivors of Epstein — the convicted sex offender who took his own life in prison in 2019 — met with key lawmakers Tuesday and plan to hold a much-anticipated news conference Wednesday.

Massie and his Democratic co-author, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, said they will begin collecting signatures for their Epstein resolution starting Tuesday. They need at least 218 signatures — half the members of the House — to force a vote, and Khanna told NBC News he is certain that all 212 Democrats will sign on, along with at least six Republicans.

If they can secure the requisite 218 signatures, there is still an additional waiting period of seven legislative days before a vote can happen. Then the House speaker has two legislative days before he must call up the measure for a vote on the floor. So, the earliest a final vote could happen would be in two weeks.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other GOP leaders are opposed to the push, arguing that it’s not needed because the House Oversight Committee is investigating the matter and is in the process of reviewing a tranche of Epstein records.

But the discharge petition allows a majority of the House to circumvent leadership's wishes.

A White House official commented on the discharge petition Tuesday night, saying that supporting it would be viewed as “a hostile act.” [MORE]