The Senate on this Tuesday passed without delay to a measure that will require the publication of official records associated with the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, following a near-unanimous vote in the House of Representatives and a shift by Donald Trump and his GOP allies. The administration gave in after months of trying to forestall the joint action involving a controversy that has plagued the president since his comeback to the White House.
Swift Passage in Both Chambers
The Senate acted by consensus, which needs acceptance from each senator but does not require a formal roll call vote, accelerating the process. Just before, the House voted decisively for the bill on a near-unanimous vote.
“The American people have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have suffered long enough,” the top Senate Democrat said in a Senate remarks on Tuesday, before asking the Senate to pass it unanimously. “Let the truth come out. Allow openness to prevail.”
Next Steps
The measure next will be sent to Trump for his approval. The president signaled on Monday that he would approve the bill.
Although the president has for an extended period downplayed the uproar over the official management of the Epstein case as a “Democrat hoax”, he voiced approval for the legislation over the past few days, and said he would sign the measure if it comes to him.
Support and Opposition
The Democratic party, along with victims and their representatives who were watching from a public section, cheered after the bill was passed. The only opposition came from a Louisiana Republican, who stated he worried the measure would disclose personal information of people, persons of interest and others involved in the investigation.
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