The Senate late Tuesday afternoon agreed to unanimously approve the House bill that calls for the Justice Department to release its Jeffrey Epstein files bill.
When the bill arrives from the House, it will be deemed immediately passed by the Senate and sent to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer came to the floor at 5:18 p.m., just hours after the House resoundingly passed the bill, and asked for it to be deemed passed by the Senate as soon as it was processed by the House.
No one objected.
The unanimous action by the Senate means there will be no amendments or changes to the bill as House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of his Republican leadership team had been urging.
Following the decision, Johnson told reporters on Tuesday night he is “deeply disappointed” the Senate approved the Epstein files release bill without making any changes.
“I was told that Chuck Schumer rushed it to the floor and put it out there pre-emptively. It needed amendments,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters after the Senate approved the House resolution to force the release of Justice Department files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Nov. 18, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Trump said on Monday that he will sign the bill should it reach his desk.
“I’m all for it,” Trump said.
But in a post on his social media platform Tuesday afternoon, the president said he doesn’t “care when the Senate passes the House Bill, whether tonight, or at some other time in the near future,” and that he wants Republicans to stay focused on his agenda.
“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,” Trump said in his post.
A senior White House official later told ABC News that the bill will “be signed whenever it gets to the White House.”
Trump did not need to wait for Congress to act — he could order the release immediately.
At a vigil on Capitol Hill, a group of House Democrats and Epstein survivors broke out in loud cheers upon learning that the Senate unanimously approved the bill.
After New Mexico Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez made the announcement from the podium, the group broke out in loud cheers, claps and smiles — some of them tearing up.
Democrats were seen hugging the survivors.
The measure compels Attorney General Pam Bondi to make available all “unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in the Department of Justice’s possession related to Epstein within 30 days of its enactment.
If the legislation is signed into law, it could compel the release of federal records on Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as other individuals, including government officials, named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s “criminal activities, civil settlements, immunity, plea agreements or investigatory proceedings,” according to the legislation text. Victims’ names and other identifying information would be excluded from disclosure, as would any items that may depict or contain child sex abuse material, according to the text of the House-passed bill.
ABC News has not received a response from the Justice Department to questions about whether and how it plans to comply with the bill once it has been signed by Trump.
On Friday, Bondi announced the Justice Department was initiating a renewed investigation into the files and potential ties between high-profile Democrats and Epstein just hours after Trump ordered her to on his Truth Social account.
It’s unclear whether it will seek to cite that announcement as exempting much of the files from public disclosure due to their relevance to the new investigation, despite DOJ and FBI stating unequivocally in a July statement that it uncovered no evidence in a review of the files that would support a predicated investigation against any uncharged individuals.
It’s unlikely the Justice Department would release the entire Epstein file, according to sources. Any materials related to ongoing investigations or White House claims of executive privilege will likely remain out of public view.
Rep. Thomas Massie speaks alongside Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene during a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol, November 18, 2025 in Washington.
Heather Diehl/Getty Images
Earlier Tuesday, Thune dismissed the idea that the Senate would amend the bill despite Johnson urging the Senate to do so.
“I think when a bill comes out of the House 427 to 1 and the president said he was going to sign it, I’m not sure that amending it is in the cards,” Thune said.
Johnson was not enthusiastic about the prospect of the Senate fast-tracking passage of the Epstein files bill in the upper chamber without making changes.
“I just texted him, we’re going to get together,” Johnson said about Thune. “We’ll talk about that.”
“There’s an easy way to amend the legislation to make sure that we don’t do permanent damage to the justice system, and I’m going to insist upon that,” Johnson added. “We’ll talk to our Senate colleagues.”
ABC News’ John Parkinson, Lauren Peller, Rebecca Gelpi, Michelle Stoddart and Alex Mallin contributed to this report.
