As the longest government shutdown in US history winds up, a fresh bout of political infighting is brewing over the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Politicians have returned to Capitol Hill and picked up where they left off several weeks ago.
For Democrats and some Republicans, that work included a petition for a vote to release documents related to the investigation into the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Before the shutdown, the petition had amassed all but one of the signatures it needed from politicians in the House of Representatives.
Democratic representative Adelita Grijalva was due to become the final name added after she won a special election in Arizona more than seven weeks ago, but the shutdown had put a pin in those plans until she could be sworn in.
House Speaker Mike Johnson — who is in the Republican party — held her swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday.
After delivering a floor speech, Ms Grijalva signed the petition.
What happens now?
Now that the petition has the required 218 signatures, the House will be required to vote on legislation that would require the Department of Justice to release all unclassified documents and communications related to Epstein and his sex trafficking operation.
But that won't necessarily happen right away.
Mr Johnson said he planned to put the bill on the House floor next week.
However, chamber rules wouldn't require such a move until early December.
If the House votes in favour of the legislation, it would still need to get through the Senate, where leaders have shown no indication they will bring it to a vote.
And, beyond that, Mr Trump would need to sign it into law.
Petition launched by Republican
The petition from Republican politician Thomas Massie defied GOP leadership and roiled US President Donald Trump's administration.
The continued pressure to release the files has raised questions about Mr Trump's friendship with Epstein and what knowledge he might have had about the financier's crimes.
The president has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein's crimes and has said he ended their relationship years before they came to light.
He, and many in his party, say the efforts to release files are part of an effort to smear his name.
Still, a further three House Republicans signed on:
- Lauren Boebert
- Nancy Mace
- Marjorie Taylor Greene
In a social media post on Wednesday, Ms Mace said she would not abandon survivors, adding she "will defend every last attack on President Trump".
The resistance from party leadership is an early suggestion of how the bill will fare, even if it passes the House.
Trump says vote is a Democrat deflection
Mr Trump has described the effort as a "Democrat hoax", despite the petition being led by a Republican.
"The Democrats are trying to bring up the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they'll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they've done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects," he wrote on Truth Social after his opponents released years-old emails from the files on Wednesday.
"Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap."
He added that "any Republicans involved should be focused only on opening up our country, and fixing the massive damage caused by the Democrats!"
Mr Trump campaigned on a promise to publish all documents compiled during the investigation but has since said any calls for further releases were "stupid".
Johnson accused of stalling vote
It took more than seven weeks from her election win for Ms Grijalva to be sworn in.
Mr Johnson had refused to seat the newly minted representative while the chamber was out of session due to the shutdown.
Earlier this year, he swore in two Republican members when the chamber was not in legislative session.
Democrats speculated the delay was a strategy to prevent her signature on the Epstein petition.
Two weeks after her election, Ms Grijalva suggested that while she tried not to be a "conspiracy theorist", she had begun to read into the lag.
"I thought, 'No way, he's gonna swear me in. It'll be fine,'" she said.
"Here we are two weeks later."
Mr Johnson rejected the accusation, saying the delay had "zero to do with Epstein".
He has instead pushed for an inquiry handled by the House Oversight Committee, which would release its findings in time.
ABC/AP
