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Hello, friends. Another busy week on Capitol Hill featuring overnight sessions and a record-breaking vote series. Never a dull moment around here.
The midterm season (despite being more than a year away) is upon us, and we are starting to see what messaging will dominate the airwaves — and what you’re going to hear when those pesky TV ads return in the coming months.
But first, Republicans have to face the conspiracy-laden-turned-mainstream news cycle that has dominated headlines this week: What to do about the Epstein files. I’ll get into that more below.
— Cami Mondeaux
The Big Idea: How Epstein became the center of the great MAGA divide
It’s been just 11 days since the Justice Department released its memo saying officials had found no evidence of a client list containing the names of celebrities and politicians who conspired with financier Jeffrey Epstein, who reportedly died by suicide after being arrested on charges of sex trafficking.
The aftermath has since been complicated, emotionally charged, and downright messy for President Donald Trump and his most faithful followers.
While on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly suggested he would declassify all government files on the Epstein case, prompting widespread calls from his base to do so once he was elected. Those promises also led to numerous conspiracy theories about who may be connected to the sex trafficking operation — and broader questions about what the government might be hiding.
Trump was supposed to be the one to uncover it all. Now, he wants the story to go away.
“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this (expletive), hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “They haven’t learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years.”
But that hasn’t calmed his base. In fact, there’s been an outcry among Trump’s base to release all of the files — and some Republicans on Capitol Hill are inclined to agree.
“This is a really touchy issue. The American people deserve to know the answers on this and a number of things,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., said this week. “And I think that this is kind of highlighting the frustration that the American people have where they feel like they can’t trust their government.”
In fact, Burlison told us this has become the No. 1 issue brought up by constituents over the last week. And he, among several others, wants answers.
“He probably has more information than I do, but if he does, then at least get that information out,” he said. “Let us know.”
So, what happens now? Don’t expect this to go away.
In fact, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is already pressing for a vote to release the files — which could reach the floor as early as next week.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who has already established himself as the Republican thorn in Trump’s side, filed a discharge petition on the matter earlier this week, which would require a vote on legislation forcing the release of all files. Eight Republicans co-sponsored that legislation, and several others have privately indicated they don’t want to vote against something that would thwart the release of Epstein information.
Meanwhile, some Republicans are pressing for a special counsel to investigate the matter. Others even want Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice, to testify before Congress.
As you may expect, Democrats are relishing this moment. It’s the first time there’s been this strong of a divide in the MAGA base, and it opens up an opportunity for the minority party. And they’re already taking advantage of it.
At every opening they’ve had this week, Democrats have introduced amendments to GOP-led legislation pushing for the release of the files. And it’s put Republicans in a tricky position.
More on that below.
But Democrats say it is Trump’s own fault.
“This is very simple. The American people need to know the truth about the Epstein files,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Thursday. “Donald Trump and Republicans were the ones who talked about this for years. Now they are reaping what they have sown.”
And the White House? They’re in clean-up mode.
Here’s what White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday: “The president has been transparent. He has followed through on his promises to the American people, but he doesn’t like to see Democrats in the mainstream media covering this like it’s the biggest story that the American people care about.”
We’ll see how this continues to unfold. But you can expect to see much more of this story unfold over the coming weeks.
— Cami Mondeaux
Stories driving the week
- DOGE days: The Senate approved the Trump administration’s first round of requested spending cuts after an overnight voting session, approving the clawback of billions of dollars in federal funding including substantial cuts to public broadcasting.
- Dems hit back: The Democratic National Committee launched a series of interactive websites showing the possible state-level and national impacts from the budget cuts, including how it could affect Utahns. My colleague Lauren Irwin got a first look at the Utah website.
- Immigration changes: A bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on President Donald Trump to provide protections for some undocumented immigrants, marking a joint effort by both parties to temper the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
How the Epstein saga is disrupting Trump’s agenda
Democrats are looking for every opportunity to make Republicans’ lives difficult over this Epstein drama. And so far, it seems to be working.
Earlier this week, Democrats introduced a number of amendments with language to force the release of the Epstein files. But Republicans shot down all of those efforts.
Why? It’s … complicated.
In each of those instances, Democrats sought to disrupt procedural votes by attaching the Epstein-related language. Because of how House rules work, Republicans essentially had to reject all of those proposals — even though some of them admitted they want the files to be published.
As you can imagine, a lot of Republicans were not happy. And it almost caused a major disruption in Trump’s agenda.
After the Senate passed Trump’s spending cuts request on Thursday, the House was expected to take it up almost immediately to get it to the president’s desk before the Friday midnight deadline. But House Republicans on the Rules Committee delayed that process over concerns that Democrats would once again introduce procedural amendments they would need to reject.
So House Republican leaders huddled with those conservatives throughout the day on Thursday to negotiate a compromise.
The deal: House GOP leadership will clear the way for a resolution to release some information related to Epstein — but a different proposal from the one Massie introduced earlier this week.
In doing so, it gives leadership a way to give lawmakers a chance to vote their conscience on Epstein while balancing that with Trump’s wishes to stop talking about the saga altogether.
That vote will also come at a different time as the rescissions package, buying GOP leaders some time so they don’t need to deal with the Epstein fallout right away.
— Cami Mondeaux
Quick hits
From the Hill: Republicans and Democrats battle to own the rhetoric on Trump tax bill. … Sen. Curtis wants to mint commemorative coins ahead of state’s next Olympics. … Speaker Johnson says people have been ‘misled’ about separation of church and state.
From the White House: The White House says government funding doesn’t need to be bipartisan. … Trump undergoes medical testing for swelling and bruising. … Trump weighs firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell amid tariff frustration.
From the courts: What the latest Supreme Court win means for religious parents and their kids’ education. … Supreme Court justice pauses ruling weakening Voting Rights Act (WaPo).
What’s next
The House and Senate are both scheduled to be back next week. They’ll likely continue crawling their way through appropriations bills before leaving town for August recess.
As always, feel free to reach out to me by email with story ideas or questions you have for lawmakers. And follow me on X for breaking news and timely developments from the Hill.