Congressman Thomas Massie has officially filed a petition that could force Speaker Mike Johnson to put his bipartisan Epstein files disclosure bill on the floor in the coming days. Mr. Massie is using what is known as a discharge petition to get his legislation to the floor, meaning if a majority of House members sign on, then the speaker will have no choice but to call up the vote. 

Mr. Massie and Congressman Ro Khanna started their push for disclosure of the Epstein files in July, before Congress left town for a five-week summer recess. Mr. Johnson abruptly canceled House votes a day early amid consternation over the Massie–Khanna bill, though the pressure campaign has not abated during the recess. 

Mr. Khanna says that all 212 Democrats will sign on to the petition, meaning Mr. Massie only needs five other GOP lawmakers to sign on in order for the bill to come to the floor. The legislation would force Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all files related to Epstein — except for child pornography or information that identifies victims — within 30 days.

Several Republicans have already co-sponsored the underlying bill from Messrs. Massie and Khanna, meaning that the discharge petition will almost certainly succeed. Once it has amassed 218 signatures, the House will be forced to vote on the discharge motion after seven legislative days, meaning the motion could come up for a vote as early as next week. 

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, Congressman Eric Burlison, and Congressman Tim Burchett are among those who have signed on, so far. In total, 12 members of the GOP are supporting the Massie–Khanna bill. 

On Wednesday morning, the lawmakers will host alleged survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Capitol as part of their campaign to push for the files’ disclosure. During an interview with “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Mr. Khanna said the press event will be “explosive” because those victims “will be saying clearly to the American public that they want the release of the Epstein files for full closure on this matter.”

In an effort to stave off any kind of conservative revolt, Mr. Johnson is aligning himself with the House Oversight Committee’s own investigation into Epstein and his associate, Maxwell. The committee is going through the process of taking depositions from people who may have knowledge of Epstein’s affairs, including President Clinton and Department of Justice officials.  

The House Rules Committee on Tuesday night will consider a toothless resolution from leadership that would direct “the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to continue its ongoing investigation into the possible mismanagement of the Federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell.” 

That resolution states only that the committee’s chairman, Congressman James Comer, is required to release his investigative findings once his probe is completed, which the committee is expected to do anyway. 

In response to the announcement of the Rules Committee resolution on Tuesday morning, Mr. Massie called the measure “meaningless.”

“@SpeakerJohnson just scheduled this meaningless vote to provide political cover for those members who don’t support our bipartisan legislation to force the release of the Epstein files,” Mr. Massie wrote on X.