Senate unanimously approves bill requiring release of Epstein files

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously agreed to pass a bill previously approved by the House of Representatives that requires the president's administration to Donald Trump to disclose all unclassified records and documents related to former financial mogul and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, thus sending the legislation to the Republican leader for his signature.

Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer won unanimous consent to pass the Epstein Records Transparency Act just hours after the lower chamber voted 427-1 in favor of its passage. The Senate's swift action brings to an end the protracted congressional battle over the files, which caused months of turbulence in the House of Representatives.

On what happened in the Senate, Trump wrote on his Truth Social account: "I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill, whether tonight, or at some other time in the near future, I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had, including THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, Closed Borders, No Men in Women’s Sports or Transgender for Everyone, ending DEI, stopping Biden’s Record Setting Inflation, Biggest Tax and Regulation Cuts in History, stopping EIGHT Wars, rebuilding our Military, being RESPECTED by every Country in the World, having Trillions of Dollars INVESTED in the U.S.A., having created the “HOTTEST” Country anywhere in the World, and even delivering a HUGE DEFEAT to the Democrats on the Shutdown. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

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Change of heart among Republican senators.

Earlier this week, several Republican senators said the upper chamber could wait until December to address the release of the files, because of the need to amend legislation so that the identities of innocent third parties could be protected. However, the dynamic to pass the bill quickly in the Senate became inevitable after overwhelming support in the House for its passage, having Republican Rep. Clay Higgins as the lone dissenting vote.

Republican majority leader in the Senate, John Thune, told reporters that the resounding vote in the lower chamber weakened calls to amend the legislation. "When a bill comes out of the House 427 to 1 and the president has said he’s going to sign it, I’m not sure that amending it is in the cards," Thune said.