Senate Republicans blocked a Democrat-led effort to force the Trump administration to release its Jeffrey Epstein files on Wednesday.
The effort to force the release of the documents was led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who introduced the measure earlier in the day as an amendment on the National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate tabled the amendment by a vote of 51-49. Two Republicans, Sens. Rand Paul and Josh Hawley, voted with Democrats.
The vote comes at a moment when scrutiny around President Donald Trump and his past relationship with Epstein, the late financier and convicted sex offender, is at an all-time high. Democrats earlier in the week released the letter Trump reportedly sent Epstein for his 50th birthday, which features the outline of a naked woman and includes the message “may every day be a wonderful secret.” Trump has denied that the signature on the letter is his.
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a retiring Republican, said he voted to scrap the amendment because it was a procedural vote. But he added that he would support a different kind of measure to release the files.
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“At the end of the day, it was a procedural vote, because it would have been stripped out on the back end,” Tillis told reporters just after voting. “So, you know, frankly, if there was an amendment on the floor that would have the force of law, I’d vote for it in a heartbeat.”
Hawley, who usually votes with his own party, said he voted in favor of keeping the amendment in the NDAA because it’s consistent with his position that the files should be made public.
“I’ve always said that I think the right thing to do here is release the files, and I trust the American people,” Hawley told reporters shortly after voting.
The Epstein saga has put pressure on the Republican Party, as its base has demanded transparency around the matter that major figures in the Trump administration had promised.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Wednesday reportedly called Schumer’s amendment a “political stunt.”
Schumer’s move to force a vote was a rare power play that put Republicans on the record. The amendment from Schumer was similar to that of Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie in the House, where the lawmakers have been pushing a discharge petition to release the files. It would have forced the Department of Justice to release all of its Epstein files.
“There’s been so much lying, obfuscation, cover-up,” Schumer told reporters while introducing the amendment on Wednesday. “The American people need to see everything that’s in the Epstein files.”
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