Image source, Getty Images

After a months-long saga, lawmakers in the US House of Representatives and Senate - with only one "no" vote - on Tuesday approved a bill to compel the Trump justice department to release a trove of files from investigations into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail in 2019,

The vote came after House representatives bypassed usual procedures to force the vote and after President Donald Trump signalled that he had changed his long-held position that releasing any information related to Epstein was giving into a "hoax" perpetrated by Democrats.

What has happened so far?

The Epstein Transparency Act passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday by a vote of 427-1.

The bill then moved to the Senate, which quickly voted unanimously to fast-track its passage.

It comes as survivors of Epstein's abuse have spent months on Capitol Hill pushing for its passage.

What happens next?

The Senate passed the bill before it officially receiving it from the House, and then adjourned. This means the bill will officially pass Congress on Wednesday.

Donald Trump, who campaigned against the bill before an abrupt U-turn, has promised to sign it into law.

The justice department then has 30 days to release all files related to Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell.

But the attorney general may decline to release some information, on the basis that it would pose risk to underage victims or interfere with an investigation.

A congressional vote was not required to release the files - Trump could have ordered the release on his own.

We are ending our live coverage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. You can stay up to date on this story here: Congress passes bill to release Epstein files, sending to Trump's desk

Newsnight

Members of Virginia Giuffre's family watched on as the House voted overwhelmingly to compel the release of all Epstein files earlier today.

"It means everything", Sky Roberts, her brother, tells BBC Newsnight, adding "I wish our sister was here to see it herself".

Giuffre, who prominently accused Jeffrey Epstein, died by suicide earlier this year.

Giuffre also alleged Andrew Mountbatten Windsor had sex with her three times as a teenager. The former prince, who has denied the allegations, reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre in 2022. It contained no admission of liability or apology.

Giuffre's brother Roberts also called for everyone who is named in the files when they are released to be investigated.

"I think that she would be excited that finally the work that she had done is being listened to," Giuffre's sister-in-law Amanda Roberts adds.

Image source, Getty Images

In a vigil happening at the same moment that the bill passed the Senate this evening, survivors of Epstein's abuse cheered its passage.

Holding electric candles, the women embraced, laughing and smiling, as members of Congress told them "good job".

Survivor Annie Farmer also praised the late Virginia Giuffre for her role exposing Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Farmer said that she met Giuffre in 2019, and recalled how "she just had this poise and this strength, and it was incredible to see".

Giuffre, she said, deserves credit for unifiying the victims and inspiring them to speak out.

"I feel like she is here with us, like she can see this," said Farmer.

"Thank you, Virginia," she continued, before breaking down in tears.

Now that both the House and the Senate have approved the release of all the Epstein files, the bill will need to be formally transmitted - via the Senate - for presidential signature.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has told CNN that the House will transmit the bill on Wednesday morning.

Considering the Senate have now voted to unanimously approve the bill without debate or amendments, we could see it land on Trump's desk before lunchtime tomorrow.

Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, however, says the process should move even more quickly: "There's no reason it can't be on the president's desk in an hour," he told reporters at the Capitol.

"We have to make sure that all of the documents are released, that there are no games," he added.

The Justice Department has a 30-day deadline after the president takes out his pen to release the files.

Newsnight

Republican co-sponsor of the Epstein transparency bill Thomas Massie tells the BBC's Newsnight that Trump must commit to signing the bill into law.

"He just needs to follow through on his promise to sign it," the Kentucky representative says.

Massie led a handful of Republicans campaigning for the full release of the Epstein files in recent months, which included Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

"I hope those victims have confidence to come out and say the names of people who perpetrated crimes against them," Massie says.

He spoke ahead of the Senate vote, where he urged senators to not "create any special exemptions for these rich men who are worried about getting embarrassed".

The Senate won't amend the House bill, after it agreed to bypass normal procedures that allow for debate and changes. They have unanimously approved the bill.

It will then require the president's sign off to become law.

What has been released from the Epstein files so far?published at 00:05 GMT 19 November 2025

00:05 GMT 19 November 2025

By Shayan Sardarizadeh

As we continue to cover lawmakers' pressure campaign on Donald Trump to release all of the documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, it's worth revisiting what has been released so far - which BBC Verify has been digging into.

Tens of thousands of pages of evidence from federal investigations into convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, known as the Epstein files, have been released to the public in stages over several years.

These documents, some released in redacted format, include Epstein’s flight logs, his contact book, email exchanges, court documents, and testimonies from victims and witnesses.

While the names of many high-profile figures appear in them, that does not mean they were aware of, or involved in Epstein’s crimes.

The latest batch released last week mostly consisted of emails between Epstein and associates, including three by Epstein which directly referenced President Donald Trump. There is no evidence linking Trump to any of Epstein’s crimes and he has denied any knowledge of them.

A 2011 email from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has also been released. In it, he replied to a forwarded email by Maxwell about alleged sexual activity with a masseuse working for Epstein. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing.

Lord Peter Mandelson appeared in a 2016 email exchange with Epstein, eight years after Epstein's conviction for soliciting sex from a minor in Florida. Mandelson, who was sacked from his role as the UK ambassador to the US in September, has repeatedly said he regrets his relationship with Epstein and there’s no evidence that he is involved in any wrongdoing.

Image source, US House of Representatives

A little bit ago we heard from House Delegate Stacey Plaskett as she responds to a Republican-led resolution to censure her and remove her from the chamber's intelligence committee.

Plaskett - who represents the US Virgin Islands in non-voting capacity - was reprimanded today after documents released last week appeared to show she was communicating with Jeffrey Epstein during 2019 congressional testimony of Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen

Plaskett said on the House floor today that Epstein's text messages to her were among several communications she received during the period in which she was about to question Cohen.

"I got a text from Jeffrey Epstein who at the time was my constituent [and for whom it] was not public knowledge at the time that he was under federal investigation," Plaskett says. Epstein owned a private island in the US Virgin Islands.

She rejected suggestions that she was seeking advice from Epstein on how to question the witness.

"I have been a lawyer for 30 years. I have been a narcotics prosecutor," she added. "I know how to question individuals, I know how to seek information. I have information from confidential informants, murderers, from other individuals because I want the truth not because I need them to tell me what to say."

As Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has introduced the Epstein files bill on the Senate floor, Donald Trump has posted on his Truth Social account.

"I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill, whether tonight, or at some other time in the near future, I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had," the president writes.

As a reminder, the Senate has now agreed to pass the bill.

You can read Trump's post in full below:

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking on the Senate floor just a few minutes ago, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has asked for unanimous consent to pass the Epstein files bill which just passed in the House.

"This is about giving the American people the transparency they have been crying for," Schumer says. "The American people have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epstein's victims have waited long enough. Let the truth come out."

Without any objections raised, the measure passes.

Once the House sends the bill to the other side of the Capitol to the Senate chamber, there will be no debate and no amendments - a much quicker process than on other parts of Capitol Hill politics.

Once the bill is delivered, the measure will be sent to President Trump's desk.

He has indicated he will sign the bill, after spending much of last week lobbying to stop its passage in the House.

For context: the Department of Justice can choose to release the files at any point, regardless of the bill now making its way through Congress.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asks the Senate to pass the bill - just passed by the House - to compel the release of the Epstein files by unanimous consent.

No senator objected, meaning the bill will head to Donald Trump to sign.

With the Epstein Files Transparency Act bill now passed by the House of Representatives, it will head to the US Senate to face a vote by Congress' upper chamber.

Senator Majority Leader John Thune has said the Senate will take up the bill "fairly quickly", and could pass it by later today.

He added that he does not expect any changes to the bill passed by the House. If the Senate does change the bill, it will need to be reconciled with the version passed by the House.

Trump, after lobbying against the release of the Epstein files flipped his position, now says he will sign it into law. Once signed, the justice department has a deadline of 30 days to release all of the Epstein files.

Certain sensitive files relating to underage victims or ongoing inquiries may not be released.

For context: the Department of Justice can choose to release the files at any point, regardless of the bill now making its way through Congress.

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

Just when all of us following the Epstein vote on the Hill thought we were done for the night, there has been a new twist.

We expected the Senate to take up the legislation at some point this week, because of the Thanksgiving holiday next week. But we didn't expect Senate Majority Leader John Thune to suggest - as he just did on the floor - that he may bring up the legislation for vote tonight, without trying to make any amendments to it.

"I think when a bill comes out of the House 427-to-1 and the president said he was going to sign it, I'm not sure that amending it is in the cards," Thune told reporters.

If the bill is brought for a vote tonight, it could be done as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested, by unanimous consent.

"We have an opportunity to get this bill done today and have it on the president's desk to be signed into law tonight," Schumer said.

The process of ordering the justice department to release the Epstein files could face an additional hurdle, even if it passes the Senate after today's vote in the House.

Several Republican lawmakers who have supported the bill have expressed concerns that Trump's order to the justice department to investigate Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats could slow the release of the files.

"I'm concerned that now he's opening a flurry of investigations, and I believe they may be trying to use those investigations as a predicate for not releasing the files. That's my concern," said Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who spoke alongside survivors of Epstein's abuse this morning.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has also said the documents may be "tied up" in Trump's investigation into Democrats.

Stick with us while we wait to hear on when the Senate might take up the bill.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

The US House is debating on a resolution to formally censure Delegate Stacey Plaskett of the US Virgin Islands and remove her from the US House Intelligence committee. The islands are not a US state and as such Plaskett, a Democrat, does not have voting privileges in the US House but she participates in debates and committees.

Among Epstein's documents released last week was a chain of communication between the sex offender and an unidentified person in Congress during a 2019 televised testimony for Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen. At the time, Epstein had been convicted to sex crimes and further charges followed.

The documents appear to show Epstein giving the person tips on questions to ask Cohen. When it was Plaskett's turn to ask questions, her inquires matched what Epstein had been texting that person.

Epstein owned a private island in the US Virgin Islands and documents show he made contributions to Plaskett's campaign. In 2019, Plaskett sought to distance herself from Epstein and announced she would donate Epstein's money of around $8,000 (£6,000) to charities working with women and children.

The question of releasing the Epstein files has loomed over Trump’s presidency. Let’s take a look at the key moments that bring us to this point.

February

• The Department of Justice and FBI released 341 pages of declassified files in what was called the "first phase" of publishing all the files - but most of the material was already public

July

• The Department of Justice and FBI said no more material would be released

September

• The House Oversight Committee release over 33,000 pages of Epstein-related records

12 November

• Democrats release three newly acquired emails from the Epstein estate, some mentioning Donald Trump

• Republicans accuse them of cherry-picking documents to make Trump look bad and release the full 23,000 pages
• A petition on releasing the files gets enough signatures to force a vote, as Representative Adelita Grijalva signs it upon being sworn in

16 November

• Trump calls for Republicans to vote to release the files, after weeks of saying it was a Democratic-driven distraction

18 November

• The House of Representatives votes and passes the Epstein Files Transparency Act 427-1

Image source, Getty Images

John Thune, the majority leader in the US Senate, says President Trump "sounds like he's prepared to sign" the bill to release the Epstein files, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

"We'll move fairly quickly over here," he added, referring to the bill's passage through the Senate.

He is then asked about potential changes that US Speaker Mike Johnson might want to make to the bill.

Thune responds: "I think there's some things he'd like to change but a 427-1 vote, it's not likely to happen."

As a reminder: Now that the bill has passed through the House, it will face a Senate vote.

Earlier today, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also indicated he would push Republican senators to move "immediately" on the Epstein bill, saying: "The American people have waited long enough."

Image source, Reuters

We've just seen a statement from US Representative Robert Garcia, which says "we are ending this White House cover-up and demanding that Senator Thune take up the Epstein bill immediately".

He continues by saying "Donald Trump is panicking and trying to stop our investigation".

"We need to know what he’s hiding, and what powerful men are responsible for the rape and abuse of children and women," Garcia says.

Garcia, a Democrat, adds "let’s be clear – Donald Trump has the power to release the files today. But he chooses to delay and deflect".

He concludes his statement by saying: "No more lies. No more secrets. We will get justice for the survivors. Release the files, NOW”.

An extraordinary turnaround in Republican sentimentpublished at 20:02 GMT 18 November 2025

20:02 GMT 18 November 2025

Gary O'Donoghue
Chief North America correspondent

As many of Jeffrey Epstein's victims looked on from the public gallery, Democrats and Republicans passed the bill with just one member voting against - marking an extraordinary turnaround in Republican sentiment towards the measure.

The legislation would force the justice department to release all documents relating to investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, with caveats to protect ongoing potential prosecutions and the identity of underage victims.

The bill still needs to pass the Senate where, were it changed, it would have to return to the House of Representatives for another vote - all of which means it could be some time before any of these files see the light of day.

This whole affair has dented President Trump's authority. Despite his at times angry remonstrations with his supporters and some Republican legislators, he couldn't make this go away. And it's thwarted the Administration's attempts to get on the front foot on the issues on which it believes it is delivering results.

Image source, Getty Images

We've just heard that Republican US Representative Clay Higgins was the sole no vote for the bipartisan bill, which passed 427-1.

A social media post on his X account says: "I have been a principled 'NO' on this bill from the beginning".

He says the bill "reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc".

Higgins continues by saying "if enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt".

He is a member of the House Committee on Oversight and says it is "conducting a thorough investigation that has already released well over 60,000 pages of documents from the Epstein case".

"That effort will continue in a manner that provides all due protections for innocent Americans," he says.

Higgins adds that he will vote for the bill when it comes back to the House, but only if the Senate amends the bill "to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated".

Ana Faguy
Reporting from Capitol Hill

From outside the chamber you could hear the thunderous applause as the vote closed.

Dozens of reporters are lining the halls outside the chamber now waiting to hear from members of Congress.

Stick with us and we’ll bring you the latest.