During Mr. Trump's first term, his labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, resigned following criticism of his handling of Epstein's 2008 plea deal when he was a federal prosecutor in Florida. Epstein served 13 months in a jail work-release program after he was originally accused of sexually abusing dozens of girls and young women.

Speaker Mike Johnson of Shreveport recessed the House a day early as the debate over the sex offender Jeffrey Epsein's case escalated.

Johnson said he wouldn’t allow a vote on a measure calling on the White House to release all the files until after Labor Day at the earliest to give President Trump “space” to release some

The case of Jeffrey Epstein, sex offender and former friend of the president, has blown up into a major headache for the White House.

Democrats are pushing the issue by passing a vote for a subpoena of the records and running Epstein-related TV ads in swing districts, including in Pennsylvania.

Republican Representative Thomas Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna said the lack of transparency is reinforcing public perceptions that the rich and powerful live beyond the reach of the judicial system.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer, David Oscar Markus, said Maxwell is undecided on whether to testify before Congress regarding her connection to Jeffrey Epstein and his circle.

Both Republican and Democratic Senators agree that the Epstein files should be released even if President Donald Trump is directly named in them. On July 23 a House subcommittee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for files in the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and now the Senate is considering following suit.