House Votes 427-1 to Unseal Epstein Files — Rep. Clay Higgins Casts Sole 'No' Vote

House overwhelmingly votes to demand release of Epstein-related DOJ files

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 427-1 on Nov. 18 to demand public release of Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana, was the lone dissenting vote.

Higgins said on X that he had been "a principled 'NO' on this bill from the beginning," arguing the legislation as written would upend longstanding criminal-justice procedures and could "reveal and injure thousands of innocent people — witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc." He warned a broad release of investigative files to a voracious media could harm individuals not implicated in criminal activity.

"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," Higgins wrote, adding, "Not by my vote."

The congressman pointed to the ongoing work of a House Oversight investigation that recently disclosed more than 60,000 pages of documents related to Epstein. That release included emails attributed to Epstein containing inflammatory references to public figures.

Higgins said he would support a revised version of the measure if the Senate amends it to better protect the privacy of victims and other Americans who are named but not criminally implicated.

Legislative status and key reactions

The measure approved by the House is the Epstein Files Transparency Act, sponsored by Rep. Ro Khanna and cosponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie. After clearing the House, the bill must pass the Senate and be signed by the president to become law.

Even if enacted, the Justice Department would retain authority to withhold or redact material that is classified, would identify victims, or would interfere with ongoing federal investigations. The bill, however, forbids withholding information solely for reasons of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity involving public officials or foreign dignitaries.

The vote came amid shifting public positions from senior Republicans. House Speaker Mike Johnson called the floor action a "political exercise" with "serious deficiencies" and said he hoped the Senate would address them. The president initially sought to prevent the House vote but later urged House Republicans to support the release, posting that "House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on."

Separately, the administration ordered a federal inquiry into whether former President Bill Clinton and others had inappropriate ties to Epstein — a move that has raised questions about whether new investigations could affect DOJ compliance with congressional demands.

Several members of both parties pushed for the files to be unsealed; among the most vocal was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose public pressure helped bring heightened attention to the issue. Debate continues over where to draw the line between transparency and protections for victims, witnesses and uninvolved individuals whose names may appear in the files.