After more than a month, Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will be sworn in on Wednesday. Her swearing-in ceremony has significant implications for a highly anticipated vote to compel the Department of Justice to release all remaining documentation pertaining to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In response to the announcement that Grijalva will officially join the House of Representatives, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — who is cosponsoring the Epstein Files Transparency Act alongside Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) – posted to his official X account: "The 218th and final signature for the Epstein discharge petition will happen tomorrow." Once Grijalva signs the petition, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will be unable to prevent the legislation from getting a full vote on the House floor.
Former CNN, Fox News and MSNBC journalist David Shuster, who has been closely following Epstein-related developments in Washington, wrote Tuesday that official House rules stipulate that discharge petitions can't be voted on until after seven legislative days (which roll over after the speaker gavels the House back into session after an adjournment). And once those seven legislative days have passed, the speaker has a 48-hour window to schedule the vote.
However, the approaching Thanksgiving recess means that the full floor vote on the Massie-Khanna discharge petition will have to be delayed a little longer. According to the 2025 House work calendar on House Majority Leader Steve Scalise's (R-La.) website, the House will not be in session after November 20. Lawmakers are not set to return to Washington D.C. until December 1.
"Given the Thanksgiving break, and the expectation the [H]ouse will be in recess that entire week, the House vote on the Epstein files will happen at the start of the following week (first week in December)," Shuster tweeted.
President Donald Trump's administration has been vocal in its opposition to the discharge petition, warning Republicans that supporting it would be seen as a "very hostile act." In addition to Massie, Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) have added their names. Shuster reported last week that the full floor vote could garner "more than 100" Republican supporters.
The House is finally back in session this week to debate the bill to reopen the federal government that the Senate passed over the weekend. Speaker Johnson has kept the lower chamber of Congress out of session since September 19.