The Senate on Tuesday quickly approved to legislation that will mandate the disclosure of investigative files concerning the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, after a overwhelming vote in the US House of Representatives and a change of position by the president and his GOP allies. The administration relented after months of trying to forestall the bipartisan effort involving a controversy that has plagued the president since his return to the White House.
Expedited Approval in Congress
Senators proceeded by general agreement, which requires approval from each senator but does not require a formal roll call vote, expediting the process. Just before, the House overwhelmingly approved the bill on a near-unanimous vote.
“The American people have waited long enough. The survivors have suffered long enough,” Chuck Schumer declared in a Senate remarks on Tuesday, before requesting the chamber to adopt it by consent. “Let the truth come out. Let transparency reign.”
Future Action
This legislation next will be sent to the president for his approval. The president signaled on the previous day that he would endorse the legislation.
Even though Trump has for an extended period rejected the controversy over the authorities' approach of the Epstein case as a “false narrative”, he voiced approval for the House bill over the past few days, and said he would sign the measure if it is presented to him.
Reaction
Opposition lawmakers, along with victims and their representatives who were present in a public section, applauded after the bill was passed. The only opposition came from a GOP representative, who expressed concern he feared the measure would make public specific data of witnesses, persons of interest and others implicated in the investigation.
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