A House-led effort to release more information about convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is gaining traction — and spurring serious concerns within the White House, according to two GOP lawmakers.
In July, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) filed a successor to their successful Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), the bill that forced the Trump administration to release millions of files.
Their new bill is designed to force the Justice Department to release additional files that it's been accused of withholding unlawfully, despite the passage of the EFTA last year.
Like the original EFTA, this new discharge petition was filed to force a vote on the new bill, which requires 218 signatures to move forward. On Saturday, 106 House members had signed the petition. By Monday night, that number had climbed to 160, with its 218th signature now within reach, Khanna said — and against a fast-approaching deadline.
“[Wednesday] and Thursday are the last days to sign the discharge petition before recess,” Khanna said in a statement published on social media. “We have about 160 signatures & need the remaining Democrats to sign tomorrow to get to 217. And then Massie will deliver the final signature.”
Speaking on CNN this month, Massie claimed he’d seen reluctance from his GOP colleagues to sign the petition, attributing it directly to pressure from the White House.
“The pitch I'm making to my Republican colleagues who are running statewide for governor in purple states or in purple districts is, do this now before the election,” Massie told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“Take credit for it. Be a hero. You'll do better if you do. But they're still reluctant because of Trump and the pressure from the White House not to do these kind of things.”
Khanna appeared alongside Massie during the interview, and shared his own assessment on Trump’s political challenges, which he argued had been exacerbated by his administration’s handling of Epstein-related files.
“The reason Trump is in this position is because he's the one who chose to go to wars after promising no more wars. He's the one who chose to cover up the Epstein files after promising to release the Epstein files,” Khanna said.
“He's betrayed some of his central promises, and now they're in a panic to try to see how they save the midterms. It doesn't matter. They're not going to save the midterms.”
Tomorrow and Thursday are the last days to sign the @RepThomasMassie discharge petition before recess. We have about 160 signatures & need the remaining Democrats to sign tomorrow to get to 217. And then Massie will deliver the final signature. https://t.co/N7x2eUGkpY
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) September 16, 2026