Brace yourself for another Washington standoff that’s got everyone from staunch conservatives to progressive activists up in arms over the Trump Administration’s stonewalling on the Jeffrey Epstein files.
According to the Daily Mail, the heart of this saga is the administration’s refusal to release additional documents tied to the notorious Epstein case, sparking bipartisan frustration and a legislative push for transparency through the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
This issue has been simmering for weeks, dominating headlines and draining public patience faster than a bureaucracy processes paperwork.
Earlier this month, Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, teamed up with Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, to introduce the Epstein Files Transparency Act, demanding that the Attorney General release all unclassified Epstein materials.
The bill isn’t just a fringe effort; it’s garnered support from a wide swath of House members, including heavyweights like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Marjorie Taylor Greene, showing how rare bipartisan unity can be on issues of government accountability.
Khanna claims every one of his 212 Democratic House colleagues backs the resolution, and with 10 GOP co-sponsors, passing it with a simple majority of 218 votes seems like a slam dunk—if only politics were that simple.
Public sentiment, however, is far from supportive of the administration, with a recent Emerson College poll revealing a measly 16% approval rating for how Trump’s team has managed this Epstein debacle.
Spencer Kimball, the polling director at Emerson College, didn’t mince words, pointing out that this issue is where the administration takes its hardest hit in the court of public opinion.
It’s no surprise—when trust in government is already scraping the bottom of the barrel, keeping these files under wraps feels like pouring salt on an open wound.
Even some of Trump’s own party faithful are scratching their heads, with Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri calling the handling of expectations around the files a “political mistake” and a clear “misstep.”
Burlison’s critique stings with practicality—promising transparency without even peeking at what’s in the files is the kind of overreach that makes conservatives wince at government overconfidence.
Meanwhile, Khanna took to the airwaves, lamenting on a Sunday talk show that trust in government has plummeted from 60% in the Kennedy era to the teens today, framing this as a chance for reform.
Khanna’s plea for transparency included a nudge to Speaker Mike Johnson, urging him to remember their shared reformist roots and push for a vote on the bill, though it’s unclear if that nostalgia will move the needle.
Speaker Johnson, for his part, threw cold water on the Khanna-Massie proposal, arguing it lacks proper protections and cites incorrect legal provisions, rendering it unworkable in its current form.
Johnson doubled down, insisting that House Republicans on the Rules Committee have a better-drafted resolution that prioritizes protecting the innocent—a stance that sounds noble, but skeptics might see it as just another delay tactic in a town full of them.
