(WASHINGTON) — Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that the Senate could act as soon as Tuesday to approve the release of the Justice Department’s files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Thune said there’s currently an effort ongoing to determine whether any senator opposes moving forward with the bill. If no one objects, Thune said it was a “possibility” that the bill could be passed Tuesday — the same day it overwhelmingly passed in the House.

He also dismissed the idea that the Senate would amend the bill despite House Speaker Mike 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 is 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.”

In remarks on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would personally call for the Senate to unanimously act on the Epstein bill later Tuesday.

“As soon as the House sends us the Epstein bill the Senate should move without delay to pass it unamended and send it on to the president’s desk to be signed into law. We should pass this bill as soon as possible, as written, without a hint of delay,” Schumer said.

The measure that passed in the House 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.

How would it work on the floor if this happened? 

If the Senate does move on the Epstein bill on Tuesday evening, it’s expected to be by unanimous consent.

Right now, Thune said the Senate is checking in with members to see if there is anyone who objects to passing the bill Tuesday night.

If there is no objection, it could be a very quick process on the floor. Thune or another senator would likely rise to ask for the bill to be passed unanimously. The presiding officer would ask if there were any objections and, if there were none, the bill would be approved.

There are, of course, many procedural hiccups that could emerge. But the possibility exists that this could be moved across the floor quickly.

Schumer could seek unanimous agreement for final passage, or he could seek unanimous agreement to hold a vote on the bill Tuesday night. Either way, his actions, if all 100 senators agree, could send the bill to Trump’s desk as soon as Tuesday night. 

Sen. Jeff Merkley is the sponsor of the Senate’s version of the bill that would compel release of the Epstein documents. 

In a separate speech on the floor, Merkley also called for the bill to be swiftly passed.

If the bill passes in the Senate, it will go to Trump’s desk for him to sign it into law. The president said on Monday that he will sign the bill should it reach his desk.

“I’m all for it,” Trump said.

If the legislation — as it’s written in the House-passed bill — 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.

Trump does not need to wait for Congress to act — he could order the release immediately.

Even if the measure passes through the Senate and is ultimately signed into law by Trump, 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.

When would this happen?

The timing is very unclear.

The Senate floor is currently open and the Senate is expected to vote at 5:30 p.m. ET on a separate matter unrelated to the Epstein files.

Thune could also decide to hold off until later in the week if that is the preference of his members.

1. ABC News’ John Parkinson and Rebecca Gelpi contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Education on Tuesday announced six interagency agreements that would transfer some of its offices to other government agencies. The moves mark a “major step forward” in downsizing the department and returning education to the states, a senior department official said.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon touted the “bold action” her agency is taking to accomplish the mission of putting herself out of a job.

“Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission,” McMahon wrote in a statement. “As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms. Together, we will refocus education on students, families, and schools — ensuring federal taxpayer spending is supporting a world-class education system.” 

Under the agreements, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s programs as well as sections of the Office of Postsecondary Education, including higher education grant programs and institution-based grant programs, will be co-managed by the Department of Labor, according to the senior department official. 

The Office of Indian Education will be administered by the Interior Department and child care access — which would improve on-campus child care support for parents enrolled in college — and foreign medical accreditation will go to the Health and Human Services, and international and foreign language services is moving to the State Department, the senior department official said on a call with reporters. 

The department official said the agency has broad authority to move the services and explained that policies and oversight made by these offices will be vested and remain at the Department of Education. However, grant processing will be housed with the partner agencies, the department official stressed on the call.

Interagency agreements are a frequently used tool and the Education Department has engaged with other partner agencies more than 200 times to procure various services of other partner agencies over the years, the senior department official said.

The senior department official did not have a timeline for when the agreements would officially start.

Meanwhile, the statutory offices that resolve civil rights complaints, serve students with disabilities, and handle the nation’s $1.6 trillio student loan portfolio were not included in Tuesday’s announcement but the senior department official did not rule out future moves.

“OCR [Office of Civil Rights] is not one of the IAAs that we are announcing today,” the department official noted, adding “OCR, just as with [Offices of Special Education Programs and the Rehabilitative Services Administration] and [Federal Student Aid], we are exploring options and the best plans for the future.”

Critics quickly condemned the announcement.

National Parents Union (NPU) President Keri Rodrigues called the partnerships a “disaster,” calling on lawmakers to defend students impacted by the partnerships.

“By destabilizing the Department of Education, the Administration is undermining America’s long-term ability to compete, innovate, and lead on the world stage,” Rodrigues wrote in a statement to ABC News. “Congress must reject this misguided action and defend the rights, futures, and global potential of the students they serve.”

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the Trump administration is “hellbent” on punishing underserved students.

But House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said the status quo is broken and praised the Trump administration on making good on its promise to fix the Department of Education.

“It’s time to get our nation’s students back on track,” Walberg wrote in a statement, adding, “It’s time to return education to those who are most committed to students’ success: their communities.”

In recent weeks, the department used social media posts and op-eds to explain its intentions. McMahon suggested it would be a “treat” to close the agency she leads in a Halloween post on X. Earlier, on the agency’s 46th anniversary, McMahon said the department needed an “eviction notice” because of ballooning spending, failing reading and math scores, and bloated bureaucracy in Washington. 

A few of the non-statutory functions of the department have already been moved. The agency started a workforce development partnership with the Department of Labor in McMahon’s efforts to shift programs and responsibilities to partner agencies. One of the programs helping educate the next generation of farmers has been transferred to the Department of Agriculture under Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The long-expected move inched President Donald Trump closer to his goal of shuttering the department and returning education decision-making to the states. However, dismantling the agency completely would take an act of Congress and 60 Senate votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster.

Trump chose McMahon, the former WWE president and CEO, to put herself out of a job.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — After months of anticipation, the House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill ordering the release of the Justice Department’s files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

It passed 427-1 — with GOP Rep. Clay Higgins as the only vote against the measure.

The bill will now head to the Senate, where its fate is uncertain. 

About a dozen Epstein victims, including Virginia Giuffre’s brother, were seated in the front row of the gallery as the vote got underway. Some left the chamber after the tally grew above a supermajority and passage was not in peril.

Earlier on Tuesday, a group of women victimized by Epstein spoke outside the Capitol and urged lawmakers to vote yes on the bill. Several took aim at President Donald Trump directly and criticized his handling of the matter.

House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to avoid holding a vote in the lower chamber on the Epstein matter. In late July, Johnson sent the House home a day early for August recess because the House was paralyzed in a stalemate over the Epstein issue.

The speaker also sent the House home for more than 50 days during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history — delaying the swearing in of Democrat Adelita Grijalva. After the shutdown ended last week, the Arizona Democrat became the 218th signature on the Epstein discharge petition, compelling the speaker to bring a bill co-sponsored by Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to the floor for a vote this week.

Johnson continued to criticize the bill on Tuesday morning but confirmed he would be voting to move it forward.

Just before votes were cast, Johnson said on the House floor that it was a “political exercise” and that the bill has “serious deficiencies.” Johnson said he hoped the Senate makes changes to it.

“[Trump] has nothing to hide,” Johnson said.

The president had also mounted opposition to the measure, including what sources said was an attempt to dissuade GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert in the White House Situation Room from supporting the discharge petition to force a floor vote. 

But faced with growing support for the measure in the GOP-controlled House, Trump suddenly reversed course over the weekend and said Republicans should vote yes on releasing the files “because we have nothing to hide.”

Pressed if he will sign the bill should it reach his desk, Trump on Monday said he would. 

“I’m all for it,” Trump said.

The measure — called “The Epstein Files Transparency Act” — would compel 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. 

The legislation seeks 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.” 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 proposed bill.

For months, Johnson has pointed at the House Oversight Committee’s inquiry — claiming that the panel’s probe is more far-reaching than the Khanna-Massie bill. Proponents of the bill argue that “the record of this vote will last longer than Donald Trump’s presidency.”

Trump does not need to wait for Congress to act — he could order the release immediately.

Even if the measure passes through the House and Senate and is ultimately signed into law by Trump, 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.

Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of trafficking young girls and women.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.