A near unanimous vote was passed in the United States Senate on Nov. 18 2025. The final vote tally in the House, 427-1, was read.
This means that once the paperwork is sent from the House to the Senate, the bill will be sent straight to President Trump, who will then sign the vote into law.
Haley Robson, one of the victims, went after Trump after he called it a hoax for months.
“While I do understand that your position has changed on the Epstein files, and I’m grateful that you have pledged to sign this bill, I can’t help to be skeptical of what the agenda is,” Robson said. “So with that being said, I want to relay this message to you: I am traumatized. I am not stupid.”
President Donald Trump was hesitant to release the files, which he could have released at any time, but he dragged out the vote and waited for Congress to take action first. According to The New York Times, Trump discouraged the release of the Epstein files, even going so far as to saying releasing the files would be seen as “a very hostile act”. Trump took many measures to try to stop the release, but when none of his actions succeeded , he gave in.
“It’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown,'” Trump said.
Lila Sarnecki, a junior at CHS, believes it’s a big deal that the files are getting released.
“It’s important to show everyone what Jeffery Epstein did to the women that he sex trafficked,” Sarnecki said. “A lot of celebrities and people really high up in power took part in it.”
Sarnecki believes that seeing who is a part of the files and understanding how people took part in Epstein’s crimes is really important so the people can hold them accountable for their actions. Sarnecki also believes that people get away with their actions due of the power that they hold, and because of how famous they are in society.
“Having these files released in a way that isn’t covered in a ton of black ink is really important to hold people accountable.” Sarnecki said.
As for Walker Ledbetter, junior, he feels like he should know more about the files, but it doesn’t concern him.
“I feel like it’s just not something that the regular people should know about,” Ledbetter said. “It’s just because of the horrible stuff that happened.”
Ledbetter’s view is that that the people participating in the horrible crimes should be put into prison and punished for their actions. However, he believes not everyone needs to know about everything that happened.
