President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law Wednesday, one day after the Senate passed the legislation by unanimous consent, requiring the Department of Justice to publicly release all unclassified records related to Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days.
The House on Tuesday had voted 427 to 1 to pass the bill. Hours later, the Senate agreed to pass the legislation without recorded debate or a formal vote, allowing it to move swiftly to the president’s desk.
In a social media statement, Trump claimed credit for the bill’s passage, writing:
I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES! As everyone knows, I asked Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, to pass this Bill in the House and Senate, respectively. Because of this request, the votes were almost unanimous in favor of passage.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act gathered momentum after the House Democrats’ release last week of thousands of documents from Epstein’s estate, including emails in which the late convicted sex offender appeared to discuss President Trump’s knowledge of his criminal activities. The vote comes amid surging public pressure for transparency, with more than three-quarters of Americans supporting the release of all Epstein files with victims’ names redacted, according to polling conducted by Marist Poll.
The legislation compels Attorney General Pam Bondi to make available documents held by the FBI and US Attorneys’ Offices concerning Epstein, his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, flight logs, individuals connected to his criminal activities, and internal DOJ communications regarding investigation decisions.
The bill explicitly prohibits withholding documents based on “embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity.” The legislation permits limited redactions to protect victims’ privacy, classified national security information, and active investigations. Attorney General Bondi must submit a report to Congress within 15 days of completion detailing released and withheld documents.
