In a humiliating defeat for Speaker Johnson, the House is now forced to leave town early on Wednesday due to consternation over the Jeffrey Epstein files drama, giving lawmakers an early start on their five-week recess. Conservatives have vowed to keep up the fight to force the files’ release, even if they have to wait until September.

The House majority whip, Congressman Tom Emmer, announced Tuesday morning that House votes will be canceled on Thursday, allowing members to leave town a day early for their August recess. They are not expected to return to Washington until the first week of September. 

The drama started on Monday night, when Mr. Johnson and other Republican leaders held off on calling a meeting of the House Rules Committee. That panel is charged with setting terms for debate on major pieces of legislation. The speaker was concerned that Democrats would spend the meeting forcing their GOP colleagues to take politically poisonous votes against releasing the Epstein files. 

Once the Rules Committee passes the “rule” creating the parameters for debate on certain bills, the rule vote must then come to the House floor. Hardline conservatives, along with all Democrats, could have killed the rule vote because of their dissatisfaction with how the Epstein saga has been handled. 

Several members have already signed on to a bipartisan resolution that would direct the Department of Justice to release all of the documents related to Epstein within 30 days. 

Mr. Johnson had told reporters the night before that he would not be sending anyone home. Just 12 hours later, he reversed himself, cutting short their last week before the recess. 

House Republicans were deeply dissatisfied with the speaker’s move on Tuesday. “Republicans seem hell bent on heading into August recess promoting and supporting amnesty, hedging on spending reductions … demanding we prop up Obamacare subsidies, and refusing to ensure transparency on Epstein,” a Freedom Caucus member, Congressman Chip Roy, said in a post on X. 

Last week, the Rules Committee approved a non-binding resolution from ultraconservative lawmakers that would simply request — rather than require — Attorney General Bondi to release the files. The author of the resolution, Congressman Ralph Norman, blasted Mr. Johnson on Tuesday for not putting his resolution on the floor this week ahead of the August recess. 

“I led Republicans in a serious resolution — that protects victims — to expose the truth about the Epstein files, just like President Trump promised. But leadership is stalling,” Mr. Norman said Tuesday. “The American people deserve action, not excuses. Let’s vote on it before August recess and get it DONE!!”

There is a separate, bipartisan bill that threatens to embarrass congressional Republicans at the White House, if it does come up for a vote. The legislation was introduced by a Republican, Congressman Thomas Massie, and a Democrat, Congressman Ro Khanna. 

Their bill would force Ms. Bondi to release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, unless those files include child pornography, national security secrets, or information that would identify victims. Accuser perpetrators would be named in those files, under the Massie–Khanna bill. 

They have placed the bill in a discharge petition, which is a procedural mechanism that allows rank-and-file members to force votes on the floor without the consent of leadership. Once the petition is introduced, Messrs. Massie and Khanna can start collecting signatures. Once they have a majority — 218 members — then the bill will come up for a vote. 

At least a dozen Republicans have already co-sponsored the underlying bill and promised to sign on to the discharge petition once it becomes available after the August recess. Mr. Massie last week assailed his GOP colleagues for signing on to Mr. Norman’s non-binding Epstein resolution. 

“Congress thinks you’re stupid,” Mr. Massie wrote on X last week. “The rules committee passed a NON-BINDING Epstein resolution, hoping folks will accept it as real. It forces the release of NOTHING.”