Thomas Massie's discharge petition for a second Epstein files bill reached 218 signatures on Wednesday, enough to force a House vote over the objections of Republican leaders. Every Democrat signed, along with four Republicans, among them Massie, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman.

The bill, which Massie calls the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, would let members of Congress, state attorneys general and Epstein's survivors sue the Justice Department for failing to comply with the first Epstein files law. Massie says it would also let survivors obtain their own records and let state attorneys general prosecute crimes.

The first law passed the same way almost a year ago, when a discharge petition reached 218 in November 2025 and forced a vote leadership had blocked. Massie says the Justice Department has ignored that law "flagrantly and consistently", and in July he said it "continues to unlawfully withhold over 3 million Epstein files" and keeps heavy redactions on the ones it releases.

Under House rules, seven legislative days must pass before a signer can bring the bill to the floor. The vote would fall in the lame-duck session before the new Congress, with a Democratic majority, takes over in January. Our running record of what has and has not been released is on the Epstein ledger.

This news is developing, more updates will follow.