The Senate on Tuesday quickly approved to a bill that will force the release of investigative files associated with the deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, following a near-unanimous vote in the US House of Representatives and a shift by Donald Trump and his Republican allies. The White House changed course after months of trying to block the joint action involving a scandal that has dogged the president since his comeback to the White House.
Expedited Passage in Congress
The Senate acted by general agreement, which needs acceptance from each senator but avoids a individual voting process, accelerating the process. Earlier that day, the House passed by a huge margin the bill on a massive majority.
“The American people have waited long enough. Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have suffered long enough,” the Senate Democratic leader declared in a address to the chamber on Tuesday, before urging the Senate to adopt it by consent. “Uncover the facts. Let transparency reign.”
Future Action
This legislation next will be sent to Trump for his endorsement. He signaled on Monday that he would approve the bill.
Although the president has for an extended period rejected the uproar over the government’s handling of the scandal as a “false narrative”, he voiced approval for the legislation over the weekend, and said he would sign the measure if it reaches his desk.
Reaction
The Democratic party, along with victims and their representatives who were present in a public section, broke into applause after the bill was enacted. Lone dissent came from a GOP representative, who said he feared the measure would make public personal information of witnesses, those under scrutiny and others implicated in the investigation.
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