Eight senators (seven Democrats and one independent) voted with Republicans for a continuing resolution through January 30, 2026. People asked if they knew the Epstein issue would develop this way as part of a backroom deal. The answer is probably no—there's been no indication of that anywhere. They had articulated reasons for their votes, saying they didn't expect the president to illegally try to starve people and destroy the economy, but when that happened, they felt they needed to try something different.

This raises an important point about engaging with politics: when people make procedural decisions, it's worth considering their position and whether there might be decent reasons behind it, even if you're unhappy with the decision. We simply don't know how things will play out. Many who take stands discover months later that outcomes were much better or worse than expected.

After the Senate passed a measure different from what House Speaker Mike Johnson wanted, the House had to come back into active session. This forced Johnson to swear in Representative Adalita Grijalva, who was elected September 23rd but hadn't been sworn in. Her swearing-in provided the final vote for the discharge petition to require the House to vote on releasing the Epstein files.

Johnson scheduled Grijalva's swearing-in for 4:00 PM Wednesday. As soon as the House came back into session, Democrats on the oversight committee released three emails where Jeffrey Epstein said Trump knew what was happening with the girls, had spent hours with a victim at Epstein's house, and other jaw-dropping, career-ending information for any other politician.

Republicans on the oversight committee, chaired by James Comer of Kentucky, then released about 20,000 documents from a cache of approximately 23,000. These documents were hardly exonerating for Trump and pulled many other people into Epstein's sphere. They showed Epstein gave information to a New York Times reporter in 2015 (not published before the 2016 election) and contained extensive additional material.

It's important to understand there are two separate sets of documents:

1. Epstein Estate Documents: Democrats forced Comer's committee to subpoena these from the Epstein estate. This is what was released yesterday—three emails by Democrats, then 20,000 documents by Republicans, from a total cache of about 23,000.
2. FBI Investigation Files: What the House discharge petition is about. These are separate files the FBI gathered investigating Epstein, including videotapes and materials from raiding his New York City mansion.

While documents circulated and people waited for Grijalva's swearing-in, Trump put enormous pressure on the four Republicans who signed the discharge petition. He focused particularly on Nancy Mace (R-SC), who appeared to be avoiding his calls, and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).

Trump called Boebert into the Situation Room along with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel to try getting her to change her vote. The Situation Room is equipped so recordings cannot be made. This pressure didn't work. When Grijalva was sworn in, she immediately signed the petition, which is now moving through the system.

There are two main reasons why the Biden administration didn't release these files:

1. Ghislaine Maxwell had an ongoing legal case until very recently. The FBI doesn't release information related to ongoing investigations or cases.
2. The Biden administration prided itself on not using the Department of Justice against political opponents, since Trump had done that. Biden was trying to demonstrate institutional integrity by not weaponizing material they had, even though this may have given Trump space to undermine their work.

Given that Trump is desperate to prevent the FBI investigation files from coming out, and what already came out was extremely damaging, questions arise about what else must be in those files.

Now that the petition has sufficient signatures, here's what happens:

1. The petition must "ripen" for seven legislative days
2. The House Speaker then has two legislative days to hold a vote
3. If it passes (which is expected), it goes to the Senate
4. The Senate needs 60 votes because of filibuster rules
5. If the Senate passes it, it goes to the president who can sign or veto
6. If vetoed, Congress can override the veto (this happened once during Trump's first term)

Even if Trump orders the Department of Justice not to release files, many people have already seen them. The information exists not just in the US—if Epstein funneled over a billion dollars through major banks with Russian money involved, there's an international paper trail.

Republicans in the House are rumored to be expected to vote heavily in favor of releasing files because their constituents, especially MAGA voters, elected them with promises of releasing the Epstein files. Lawmakers don't want to get caught in a cover-up, which many will interpret as meaning they're in the files themselves, and which would destroy them politically.

For the Senate, several factors might influence how they vote: concerns about what's in the files (DOJ and FBI have warned Republicans they're bad), whether they want to protect Trump or prefer JD Vance not to take over (to preserve their own 2028 presidential prospects), and how powerful or popular Trump is.

Trump's approval rating is around 41% (national average), with some polls as low as 33%—extraordinarily low numbers with no signs of improvement.

Multiple issues are damaging his standing:

• Economy: The Supreme Court held a hearing on November 5th suggesting his tariffs (the centerpiece of his economic vision) may be unconstitutional. Americans don't like the tariffs, seeing prices rise, job hiring decline, and economic growth slow dramatically.
• Immigration: Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is trying to increase deportations to 3,000 people per day (triple current levels), grabbing anybody possible including US citizens. Stories of mistreatment are emerging despite administration efforts to limit access to detention centers. Human rights organizations reported Venezuelan deportees to El Salvador were subjected to systemic torture. Sending military into American cities for immigration sweeps is creating dramatic backlash.
• Cultural Issues: Tearing down the East Wing of the White House is wildly unpopular. Trump was recently booed at a football game. He keeps falling asleep in meetings and is badly incoherent when speaking.

Reports indicate members of the administration and military have given Trump plans for attacking Venezuela, ostensibly over boats delivering drugs. However, Venezuela isn't a major fentanyl source (that's Mexico with Chinese precursor chemicals), and speedboats with cocaine are far from the US. This appears to be about flexing US muscle and reworking spheres of influence in Latin America. Such action would likely not help Trump retain support.

Looking at trend lines, they don't appear to point toward a successful authoritarian president taking over. Rather, they trend toward Americans being incensed at this administration. When that happens, people put pressure on elected officials to take stands against the administration.

What stands out about the Epstein files is that people are waking up to the fact the system has been rigged since the 1980s, and they're pushing back. This creates coalitions that break down political partisanship. Many MAGA voters in 2016 thought the system was rigged for the very wealthy, and now that's becoming clearer. People who aren't MAGA are saying the same things, which will filter into new kinds of coalitions.

Beyond the sexual assault of children, the Epstein documents reveal the sheer entitlement of a group of overwhelmingly white men to behave however they wish and run the tables however they wish. The way they casually talk about dominating people will make these documents a symbol of this era. Americans are waking up to the perversion of democracy to create a world where a few very wealthy men can do whatever they want.

Things feel different—like the American people have had enough. The next two weeks will be truly awful as this vote goes through Congress because Trump will be ballistic. The next several months as the administration both unwinds and tries to regain power will be completely ugly. But within that are seeds of rebuilding: increasing numbers of elected officials articulating that the system is rigged, people questioning why $8 billion is cut from SNAP while $40 billion goes to Argentina, or why healthcare is taken from Americans to give tax cuts to billionaires.

Regarding worries about what the Senate will do or what the president will do: consider how anyone would keep this kind of explosive information under wraps when this many people now know about it. The Department of Justice allegedly had a thousand people going through these files. There were drivers who took people places, waitresses, the victims themselves who want their stories told (and now have Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene offering to speak about them on the House floor where she has protected speech). Other countries are involved—Prince Andrew was stripped of everything. There's a lot out there that will be very hard to cover up.

The focus should be on steady, constant pressure on elected officials, especially Republicans. Remember: it's the Republicans doing these things, not Democrats failing to save people. Never lose sight of who's the actual perpetrator. Keep up pressure, get involved, learn more, and maintain that going into 2026.

The Epstein files scream a world of entitled privilege for very few and provide a symbol to fight back against going forward.