Pariah to passage: The Epstein resolution reversal

IN THIS EDITION

How the Epstein drama is coming to a bizarre close in the House

MGP and the war raging inside the House Dem caucus

It’s all in the family: Legacies running for Congress in ‘26

VoteVets backs Askins in Nebraska swing seat

THE TOP

How the Epstein drama is coming to a bizarre close in the House

Happy Tuesday morning.

During the last four months, the House Republican leadership has treated the Jeffrey Epstein discharge petition as if it were toxic nuclear waste.

Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republican leaders dismissed the petition, in part saying that the Epstein petition was nothing more than a cry for help from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a disgruntled anti-Trump RINO. Johnson has even tiptoed around whether he and the NRCC would endorse Massie this cycle. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and his allies launched millions of dollars worth of TV ads against Massie.

Trump administration officials warned they were keeping track of who signed the petition. Last week, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) was called to the White House as part of a pressure campaign to get the Colorado Republican to remove her signature from the petition. A number of senior administration officials were put in front of Boebert to make the case that the effort was a waste of time. It didn’t work.

Most shockingly, Trump publicly broke with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — one of the original MAGA disciples — in part over her decision to sign onto the Epstein petition.

But today, the House will likely pass the measure — perhaps even unanimously. House Republican leaders wanted to approve the measure under unanimous consent and tried to do that last week, but Democrats demanded a recorded vote.

Trump’s shift, which came in the form of a Truth Social post late Sunday night, has also upended the dynamics in the Senate, where the bill was supposed to die. Many Senate Republicans now believe the bill will ultimately pass. The question is how — and whether senators will be forced to take a roll-call vote.

Before Trump’s about-face, Senate Democrats were planning to gum up the floor with unanimous-consent requests in a bid to make Republicans look bad for shelving the petition. Democrats could still pursue that strategy, and Republicans could simply allow it to pass without fanfare and get it off their plates.

Alternatively, Senate Majority Leader John Thune could try to pre-empt Democrats by seeking unanimous consent to pass the bill. In that scenario, a Democrat could object and demand a roll-call vote to put senators on the record.

So there are plenty of potential options here. Thune isn’t expected to reveal his thinking on it until after the House sends the bill over.

Either way, GOP senators are frustrated with Trump’s posture on this issue. Not only did Trump effectively prolong the Epstein story, he also dragged Senate Republicans — who have been able to largely avoid the drama while the focus was on the House — right into the mess.

Trump was asked in the Oval Office on Monday if he’d sign the petition if it reached his desk.

“Sure I would,” Trump declared.

The Epstein Effect. This is a remarkable turnaround for Republicans in Washington, even with the volatile Trump in the White House.

The truth is Trump saw the writing on the wall among House Republicans and started leading the parade before he could be run over by it. It became abundantly clear that Trump had absolutely no chance of pulling away support for the resolution, so he got on board, administration sources said.

Nothing screams “lame duck” like having dozens of Republicans voting against you — which is what would’ve happened if Trump didn’t give in.

In fact, Trump is facing some cracks in his otherwise impenetrable shield, as far as Republicans are concerned. Indiana Republicans have been rejecting his entreaties to redraw the state’s congressional map. Senate Republicans refuse to blow up the filibuster. And now this.

Privately, Hill Republicans complain that Trump and senior administration officials should’ve gotten on board far earlier and saved GOP congressional leaders a serious political headache. Trump and senior Republicans need to get Epstein out of the headlines as soon as possible, no matter how it’s done.

But if you think that a conveyor belt of documents from Main Justice will start dumping new Epstein material on the Hill, think again.

The legislation stipulates that the Justice Department can withhold documents if they “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary.”

Trump just announced that he wants the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s ties to former President Bill Clinton, JP Morgan Chase and Co., former Harvard University President Larry Summers, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman “and many other people and institutions.” So the fight isn’t over yet.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said he expects a “huge” House vote today. But Scalise wants the Senate to make “appropriate amendments to protect the innocent.” Johnson said he hoped the Senate would add protections for whistleblowers.

“Obviously, we didn’t get that opportunity with the discharge,” Scalise said.

If the Senate does make any changes, the House will have to vote once again. And the Epstein saga will continue on Capitol Hill.

News: Senate Democrats are introducing their version of legislation repealing a controversial provision in the government funding bill that allows senators to sue for $500,000 if their phone records were obtained as part of the Jan. 6 investigation.

The provision, which was slipped into the Legislative Branch funding bill by Senate Republicans before the broader shutdown-ending deal passed the chamber last week, has united Senate Democrats and the entire House in opposition.

Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) are leading the new effort in their chamber. Heinrich is the top Democrat on the Legislative Branch appropriations subcommittee.

“[N]egotiating a $500,000 windfall for yourself while refusing to help everyday Americans is wrong and deserves to be called out,” Heinrich said.

— Jake Sherman and Andrew Desiderio

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THE HOUSE MINORITY

MGP and the war raging inside the House Dem caucus

A bitter Democrat vs. Democrat fight broke out on the House floor Monday night. And there will be more of it today.

House Democrats failed to table a resolution condemning Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) for trying to swing Illinois’ 4th District seat to his top aide, Patty Garcia, following his sudden retirement on Nov. 3.

The disapproval resolution, which will likely get a final vote this afternoon, was offered by fellow Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), an extraordinary public rebuke. House Republicans were happy to go along with it. Most Democrats saw it as a stupid distraction from battling President Donald Trump. Only retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (Maine) voted with MGP, a second-term member and Blue Dog.

The failed bid to kill the resolution set off a bitter round of attacks against MGP on the floor, especially from Illinois Democrats.

Among those who spoke in defense of Garcia: Democratic Reps. Becca Balint (Vt.), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (Calif.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.) and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.).

“This Democratic intraparty fighting is not what any of us want and it’s not what the American people deserve,” Kamlager-Dove said.

Garcia also spoke, detailing his wife’s struggle with multiple sclerosis, the untimely death of his daughter and their attempt to raise their grandchildren.

MGP fought back, however.

“If you are not going to run, you don’t get to choose your successor, no matter how noble the work you have done beforehand,” MGP said.

And barring a GOP turnaround, her resolution will pass.

A dangerous precedent. This was in some ways a unique situation. A Democrat tried to punish a fellow Democrat publicly. All Republicans voted against tabling the resolution.

But this week’s episode has Democrats asking new questions about whether this will further erode any remaining comity in the House. For example, will Democrats now file a resolution calling for a censure of Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) for a variety of personal issues that have plagued him over recent months?

Democrats did this when Republicans pushed censure motions against Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.). Democrats responded with a Mills censure motion. Enough Republicans crossed the aisle to help kill the Omar and McIver motions, so the Mills motion disappeared. But Republicans didn’t do that this time. We’ll see if Democrats retaliate, spurring a GOP pushback.

Democrats feel as though this whole chapter has been a waste of time.

“If we voted every day on if we didn’t like something a member did, I think we would be voting every day on only that,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said.

– Jake Sherman, Ally Mutnick and John Bresnahan

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR

It’s all in the family: Legacies running for Congress in ‘26

Political dynasties are making a comeback.

The offspring of current, former and retiring members and senators will grace the ballot in 2026 in a slew of states across the country. And in many of these races, their familiar surnames could prove an asset.

This dynamic was front and center last week as the Senate finally ended the longest-ever government shutdown. Two of the key votes, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Angus King (I-Maine), both have children running for office who had to weigh in on their parents’ decision to cut a deal with Republicans.

Stefany Shaheen, who is running for an open House seat in New Hampshire, opposed the deal her mother helped broker because it didn’t include an agreement to extend the Obamacare premium tax credits. The elder Shaheen, who is retiring, didn’t seem offended. She praised her daughter’s independence.

King’s son, Angus King III, declined to criticize his father’s vote to reopen the government. King is in a crowded Maine gubernatorial race. His primary competition includes former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, the daughter of Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine).

And Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who succeeded her father, the late Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), became a national icon for Democrats after Speaker Mike Johnson refused to swear her in during the shutdown. Grijalva’s first act — becoming the 218th signature on the Jeffrey Epstein petition, which will be on the House floor today.

Other famous names are seeking to join the family business. Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, is running for an open House seat in the heart of New York City. He would join several members of the Kennedy clan who have served in the House or Senate. Tom Begich, a member of the Alaska political dynasty, is running for governor in the Last Frontier.

Former Biden administration official Jake Levine is challenging Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) for a Los Angeles-based House seat. Levine’s father, former Democratic Rep. Mel Levine, last represented California in the 1990s. Jim Kingston, the son of former Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), is running to fill the seat of Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.). Carter is running for Senate.

And two scions of well-established political dynasties are attempting comeback bids to win seats they previously held: former Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) and former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), who went to prison for illegally siphoning off $750,000 in campaign funds for personal use more than a decade ago. Another of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s sons is already serving in the House — Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.).

– Ally Mutnick

PRIMARY WATCH

VoteVets backs Askins in Nebraska swing seat

News: VoteVets is endorsing Navy veteran Kishla Askins in the crowded Democratic primary for Nebraska’s 2nd District.

Askins is part of a large field vying to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon in a top pickup opportunity for Democrats.

Askins served in the Navy for three decades. She also worked in the Biden administration for the Department of Veterans Affairs and was former Sen. Joe Donnelly’s (D-Ind.) defense adviser.

Denise Powell, a small business owner, is running with the backing of 2022 and 2024 candidate Tony Vargas and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC. State Sen. John Cavanaugh, who’s backed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, is also in the mix.

— Max Cohen

…AND THERE’S MORE

Defend The Vote endorsements: The progressive group Defend the Vote is making a slew of endorsements today. The list includes Maura Sullivan in New Hampshire’s 1st District, Jessica Killin in Colorado’s 5th District, Christina Bohannan in Iowa’s 1st District and Bobby Pulido in Texas’ 15th District.

Sullivan is in a competitive Democratic primary to succeed Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), who is running for the Senate. The other three candidates are running in red districts that could be competitive in a good Democratic year.

“These candidates know that building an economy that lowers prices and creates real opportunity requires bold changes to crack down on corruption and hold politicians accountable,” said Brian Lemek, executive director of Defend The Vote.

New California candidate: Sacramento District Attorney Thien Ho is launching his campaign for California’s newly drawn 6th District. Ho, who just wrapped a book tour of his memoir on helping catch the Golden State Killer, is endorsed by Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty.

Tariff latest: Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are urging Speaker Mike Johnson to bring up the Senate-passed disapproval resolutions for a House vote.

People moves: Kemi Giwa is joining Chime as senior manager of policy communications. Giwa previously served as communications director on the House Financial Services Committee for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

– John Bresnahan, Max Cohen and Brendan Pedersen

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