Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expects the Senate will pass the bill to release DOJ files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as soon as Tuesday, a move that would send it to President Donald Trump for his signature.
Thune told reporters the Senate could possibly pass it by unanimous consent, a maneuver that requires agreement from all 100 senators. The House passed it 427-1 with only Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) voting in opposition.
“My assumption is the president sounds like he’s prepared to sign it,” Thune said. “So I’d assume it would move fairly quickly over here.”
Senate leadership on Tuesday afternoon began checking the temperature of its members to see if anyone would object.
The possibility of quick action in the Senate is a shift from just last week when it was expected that the chamber would bury the Epstein bill. But Trump’s insistence that Republicans should pass it, and that he would be willing to sign it, has changed the dynamic within the Senate GOP conference.
Speaker Mike Johnson has called on the Senate to add more privacy protections for victims and whistleblowers. But Thune, pointing to the overwhelming vote total in the House, predicted that was “not likely” to happen.
Democrats have signaled they would oppose any efforts to change the bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer added that once the House bill gets to the Senate he will try to set up a vote on the bill, which would force Republicans to go on the record instead of letting it pass without a formal vote.
“We have an opportunity to get this bill done today and have it on the president’s desk to be signed into law tonight. We should seize that opportunity,” Schumer said.
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