(WASHINGTON) — The turmoil in Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein probe isn’t going away anytime soon after House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday he is ending the legislative session early before the summer break.
Johnson vented to reporters — even pounding the podium — as he expressed incredulity that the House was sucked into the saga, leading Republicans to abandon legislative business this week and begin their five-week summer recess a day early.
“There’s no purpose for Congress to push an administration to do something that they’re already doing. And so this is for political games,” Johnson said at the House GOP’s news conference on Tuesday.
The move came after GOP-led Rules Committee — which was working on advancing a slate of unrelated bills — came to a halt Monday evening because Democrats announced their plan to force a committee vote on bipartisan legislation that would call for the release of the Epstein files.
Republicans on the panel decided to recess the meeting with lawmakers saying there were no plans to reconvene at all. Some Republicans, such as Republican Rep. Thomas Massie slammed the decision to table the meeting and criticized Johnson.
“People have wanted these files for years. The president’s staff, administration, his own children, his vice president have promised that these files would come out, and now we’re being told it’s a hoax. It just doesn’t wash,” Massie told ABC News Tuesday.
Massie said he still intends to try to work with Democrats and a handful of Republicans to force a vote on legislation to release Epstein-related files later this fall.
“You don’t lose your base over one single thing, but [Trump’s] eroding his base. And more importantly, if we don’t take the right side of this issue, it’s going to cost us votes in the midterms,” Massie said.
Johnson laid blame on the Democrats for creating the controversy, echoing statements made by President Donald Trump over the last two weeks, however, he appeared patricularly agitated by Massie’s criticism.
“Some people seem to enjoy trying to inflict political pain on their own teammates. I’m not going to address anybody individually, but I’ll tell you that some here are much more frustrating than others. It’s small, tiny handful, but one in particular is giving me lots of consternation,” he said. “I don’t understand Thomas Massie’s motivation. I really don’t. I don’t know how his mind works.”
Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina said Monday he and the other Republicans on the committee did not want to vote on Democrats’ Epstein amendments, calling the effort “grandstanding.”
House Republicans will not hold votes this week on several measures, including an immigration bill and a clean water bill, because Democrats on the panel continue to attempt to force tough votes over releasing the Epstein files.
With the House floor paralyzed, House GOP leaders announced on Tuesday that the chamber is leaving for a five-week district work period a day earlier than expected. Republicans scrapped votes planned for Thursday with final votes now slated for Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer plans to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell “as expeditiously as possible,” according to a committee spokeswoman.
“Since Ms. Maxwell is in federal prison, the Committee will work with the Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons to identify a date when Committee can depose her,” the spokeswoman said in a statement Tuesday.
When asked about the Justice Department’s announcement that they would seek an interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted associate, Trump said he didn’t know anything about it, but “sounds appropriate.”
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