The upper chamber of Congress on Tuesday gave swift approval to a bill that will require the publication of investigative files associated with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, after a near-unanimous vote in the lower house and a shift by the president and his Republican allies. The White House relented after an extended period of trying to delay the bipartisan effort involving a controversy that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.
Expedited Passage in Both Chambers
The Senate acted by unanimous consent, which needs acceptance from each senator but avoids a formal roll call vote, speeding up the process. Just before, the House passed by a huge margin the bill on a near-unanimous vote.
“The American people have endured sufficient delay. The survivors have waited patiently,” the Senate Democratic leader said in a address to the chamber on Tuesday, before urging the chamber to adopt it by consent. “Reveal the truth. Ensure full disclosure.”
Next Steps
The bill next heads to the president for his signature. The president signaled on Monday that he would sign the measure.
Though Trump has for an extended period downplayed the uproar over the official management of the Epstein case as a “Democrat hoax”, he expressed his backing for the House bill over the weekend, and stated he would approve it if it reaches his desk.
Response
The Democratic party, along with those affected and their supporters who were present in a public section, broke into applause after the bill was approved. The sole “no” vote came from Clay Higgins, who said he worried the measure would reveal personal information of witnesses, persons of interest and others implicated in the investigation.
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