The Senate is expected to receive the House-approved version of the Jeffrey Epstein files and pass it to President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Senate agreed to unanimously approve the bill that the House passed earlier that day. When it arrives from the House, it will be immediately considered approved by the Senate.
The Senate’s unanimous action means there will be no amendments or changes to the bill, as House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of his Republican leadership team had urged.
The measure requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to make available all “unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in the Justice Department’s possession related to Epstein within 30 days of its enactment.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks to reporters after the Senate passed the House resolution to force the release of Justice Department files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Nov. 18, 2025.
Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
If the legislation becomes law, it could force the disclosure of federal records about Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as other individuals, including government officials, named or mentioned in connection with Epstein’s “criminal activities, civil settlements, immunity, plea agreements or investigative proceedings,” according to the text of the legislation. Victims’ names and other identifying information would be excluded from disclosure, as would any items that may depict or contain child sexual abuse material, according to the text of the bill passed by the House.
ABC News has not received a response from the Justice Department to questions about whether and how it plans to comply with the bill once it has been signed by Trump.
On Friday, Bondi announced that the Justice Department was launching a new investigation into the files and possible ties between high-profile Democrats and Epstein just hours after Trump ordered it to do so on his Truth Social account.
It is unclear whether the Justice Department will seek to cite that announcement as exempting much of the files from public disclosure because of its relevance to the new investigation, even though the Justice Department and the FBI unequivocally stated in a July statement that they uncovered no evidence in a review of the files that would support a previous investigation against unindicted individuals.
The Justice Department is unlikely to release the entire Epstein file, according to sources. Any materials related to ongoing investigations or claims of White House executive privilege will likely remain out of public view.
Trump said Monday that he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
“I’m all for it,” Trump said.
But in a post on his social media platform Tuesday afternoon, the president said he doesn’t “care when the Senate passes the House bill, whether tonight or some other time in the near future,” and that he wants Republicans to stay focused on their agenda.
“I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all the victories we’ve had, including THE BIG BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, Closed Borders, No Men in Women’s Sports or Transgender for All, ending DEI, stopping Biden’s record inflation, the biggest tax cuts and regulations in history, stopping EIGHT wars, rebuilding our Military, being RESPECTED by every country in the world, having trillions of dollars INVESTED in the “America, having created the ‘hottest’ country in the world, and even delivering a HUGE DEFEAT to the Democrats during the shutdown,” Trump said in his post.
A senior White House official later told ABC News that the bill “will be signed whenever it gets to the White House.”
Trump did not need to wait for Congress to act: he could order the release immediately.
At a vigil at the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon, a group of House Democrats and Epstein survivors erupted in loud cheers upon learning that the Senate had unanimously passed the bill.
After New Mexico Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez made the announcement from the podium, the group erupted in loud cheers, applause and smiles, some of whom broke down in tears.
Democrats were seen hugging survivors.
ABC News’ John Parkinson, Lauren Peller, Rebecca Gelpi, Michelle Stoddart and Alex Mallin contributed to this report.
