A push to force another House vote over the Jeffrey Epstein files has reached the 218 signatures needed to bypass congressional leadership, putting the Epstein Files Transparency Act II on a path toward the House floor.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., supplied the decisive 218th signature on November 11, 2026, one day after Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., became the 217th lawmaker to join the discharge petition led by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
All House Democrats signed the petition, along with four Republicans: Massie, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
The signatures are not votes on the bill itself. After the petition remains on the House calendar for seven legislative days, one of its signers can move to discharge the measure and force action on the floor.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act II would allow state attorneys general, local prosecutors, members of Congress and survivors to sue the U.S. attorney general over Epstein-related records they believe were unlawfully withheld, delayed, concealed or improperly redacted.
Survivors could also obtain unredacted records concerning themselves or the abuse they experienced, including relevant FBI FD-302 interview reports. State and local prosecutors would gain access to records needed for investigations and prosecutions, including classified material through secure procedures.
DOJ and FBI officials who knowingly conceal, destroy, falsify, withhold or misrepresent covered records could face existing criminal penalties.
Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., led a similar discharge effort last year that helped force the original Epstein Files Transparency Act to the House floor. That measure passed 427-1 before advancing through the Senate and being signed into law.
Massie says the second bill is needed because DOJ has continued withholding records and maintaining extensive redactions in material already released.
The latest milestone follows months of pressure from lawmakers, survivors and state officials seeking greater access to Epstein-related records. In October, 17 state attorneys general backed the second transparency measure and urged Congress to give states and survivors their own enforcement route in federal court.
House action can begin once the seven-legislative-day period expires, although leadership could bring the measure to the floor sooner on its own.
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