A House petition just cleared the one number that matters most in Congress: 218 signatures, enough to force a floor vote whether leadership wants one or not.
Quick Take
- A discharge petition for the Epstein Files Transparency Act II, H.R. 9694, reached 218 signatures, forcing a House vote.
- Rep. Thomas Massie introduced the bill with Reps. Ro Khanna, Teresa Leger Fernández, and Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ben Ray Luján.
- The bill lets state attorneys general, Epstein victims, and members of Congress sue the Department of Justice (DOJ) over withheld records.
- It follows the original Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed the House 427-1 after a similar 2025 petition drive.
A Second Round of Pressure on the Justice Department
Rep. Thomas Massie, joined by Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, Sen. Jeff Merkley, and Sen. Ben Ray Luján, introduced H.R. 9694 on July 15, 2026. The bill is called the Epstein Files Transparency Act II. It builds on the first version, giving people real legal tools instead of just asking the government to release documents.
🚨This morning we reached the required 218 signatures on my discharge petition for Epstein Files Transparency Act II !
I’m working closely with @RepJayapal, @RepTeresaLF and @RepRoKhanna to get this to the floor for a vote soon.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 11, 2026
The new bill gives standing to state attorneys general, to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, to victims of his co-conspirators, and to members of Congress. Standing means they can actually sue the Department of Justice in federal court. If the agency withholds, redacts, delays, or hides records it should release, these groups can challenge that decision directly through litigation.
How a Discharge Petition Forces Leadership’s Hand
Supporters needed 218 signatures, a simple majority of the House’s 435 members, to force the bill onto the floor without waiting on committee chairs or the Speaker. That threshold was reached, meaning the House will now vote on H.R. 9694 regardless of what leadership prefers. Names on a successful petition get frozen and entered into the official House Journal.
This tool exists for exactly this kind of standoff. Lawmakers created the discharge rule to let rank-and-file members bypass leaders who stall legislation they’d rather not touch. But the modern version was built tough on purpose, so it isn’t used lightly or often by any party in power.
A Rarely Successful Tactic With One Recent Win
Since the current discharge rule took effect in 1931, lawmakers have filed 563 petitions. Only 47 ever collected the required signatures. Just 26 of those led to an actual floor vote, and a mere two measures became law through this route alone. Reaching 218 names is historically a long shot.
The original Epstein Files Transparency Act beat those odds. Massie gathered 218 signatures on a discharge petition for that bill too, and it passed the House on a lopsided 427-1 vote in November 2025. That earlier law required the attorney general to release all Justice Department records tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s case.
Why the Sequel Bill Exists at All
If the first act already ordered full release, why push a second bill with lawsuits attached? The answer is enforcement. A law demanding disclosure only works if someone can make the government follow it. EFTA II closes that gap by letting named parties go to court the moment compliance falls short.
That distinction matters for anyone who has watched Freedom of Information Act fights drag on for years. Federal law already lets courts order agencies to hand over improperly withheld records. Massie’s bill applies that same logic specifically to Epstein files, with victims and state officials empowered as watchdogs instead of waiting on Washington’s goodwill.
JUST IN – House will vote in the coming weeks on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II after lawmakers completed a petition forcing the legislation to the floor.
Read here: https://t.co/GT6bpiJE0L
— American WatchTower (@Americanwatchtw) November 12, 2026
The House vote on H.R. 9694 is now locked in because the petition hit its number. For families who spent years demanding answers, that procedural milestone carries real weight. The question ahead is simple: will the Senate and the Department of Justice treat court-enforceable deadlines any differently than they treated the first round of promises.
Sources:
cbsnews.com, massie.house.gov, justice.gov, congressionalinstitute.org
