Johnson shifts strategy on Epstein files vote – as GOP leaders brace for mass defections

By Annie Grayer, Manu Raju, Kristen Holmes, CNN

(CNN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to quickly schedule a House vote on an effort to force the release of all of the Jeffrey Epstein case files once the calculation was made that it couldn’t be stopped.

The decision marked a shift in strategy for Johnson and the White House, who had long sought to delay the process, ​three sources told CNN.

House GOP leaders are bracing for a significant number of Republicans to break from President Donald Trump and support the bipartisan bill led by GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna calling for the Justice Department to release the Epstein files — as supporters push for a veto-proof majority.

Republican sources say there’s a broad cross-section of the conference willing to support the plan — and it will be hard to limit defections.

“No point in waiting,” one House GOP leadership source familiar with the strategy shift told CNN.

A House GOP lawmaker said of the speaker’s decision: “If you got to do it, might as well do it quickly.”

Massie told CNN on Wednesday that his hope is that a veto-proof majority will pressure the Senate to act over Trump’s opposition. It would require two-thirds of the House — or 290 votes if all members are present — for a veto-proof majority.

“If we get less than two-thirds vote when it comes up for a vote, I think it’s an uphill battle,” Massie said. “But if we are somehow able to get two thirds vote here in the House, [that] puts a lot of pressure on the Senate, and also, if the Senate does pass it, that’s a very serious step for the president.”

A Senior White House official told CNN that Trump was made aware ahead of time that Johnson was going to expedite the vote, and that the two had spoken about it.

“It was made clear to President Trump, and he understands that this is an inevitable reality,” the official said.

Johnson sent the House of Representatives home for its August recess early – in part to avoid a vote related to the Epstein files. When the House returned in September, top congressional Republicans and White House allies were working behind the scenes to prevent the politically charged vote. And there was even a last-ditch effort by the president and his allies on Wednesday to engage with two of the Republican women helping the effort move forward before it was too late.

But now, GOP sources told CNN, part of the calculation is that the momentum in the House is unstoppable and the only course of action is to send it over to the Senate to deal with.

“Get it out of the House,” another GOP lawmaker in support of the strategy told CNN.

Initially, Massie and Khanna were expecting it to be weeks before their bill would get a vote on the House floor.

Even after the bipartisan duo secured the 218 signatures needed to move forward on Wednesday, there was still a procedural process that had to play out because the effort did not have the blessing of House Republican leadership to come to the floor sooner.

So when Johnson said Wednesday that he was going to expedite the process and put the bill on the floor next week, many were surprised.

“We’re going to put that on the floor for a full vote when we get back next week,” Johnson said on Wednesday, adding, “In the meantime I’ll remind everybody the [House] Oversight Committee has been working around the clock” on its own investigation.

Johnson has previously called the effort a “moot point” given the ongoing House Oversight Committee investigation which has released thousands of documents, including from Epstein’s estate.

The decision to move quickly with a floor vote came shortly after thousands of new Epstein emails were released by the panel on Wednesday and top Trump administration officials met with GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of the few Republicans who signed onto the effort demanding DOJ release its trove of Epstein files.

“If you can’t block the parade, you might as well get ahead of it,” Khanna told CNN.

If Massie and Khanna’s bill clears the House, as is now expected, it’s fate in the Senate remains uncertain.

Majority Leader John Thune has previously told CNN he did not think the chamber needs to pass the legislation, citing the Justice Department’s release of thousands of pages related to the case.

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