Massie discharge petition for Epstein Files Transparency Act II hits 218 signatures, forcing a House vote

Documented: On November 11, 2026, a discharge petition led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) reached 218 signatures, the threshold to force a House floor vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II without Speaker sign-off. ABC News, Axios, CBS News, The Hill, Forbes, and Roll Call all reported the count. The House clerk’s record, as cited by those outlets, shows Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) as the 218th signer, a day after Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.). Signers were all 214 House Democrats plus four Republicans: Massie, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Several of those Republicans, including Massie, are leaving Congress; Roll Call and Axios note Massie lost a Trump-backed primary earlier in 2026.

Documented: The underlying bill is H.R. 9694, introduced July 15, 2026, by Massie with Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), with a Senate companion led by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), according to Massie’s office. As described by Massie’s office, CBS, Forbes, and ABC, the bill creates a private right of action so state attorneys general, district attorneys, victims, and members of Congress can sue the attorney general over unlawful withholding, redaction, delay, removal, or concealment of Epstein-related records. It would let victims obtain full unredacted records that concern them, including relevant FBI FD-302 interview reports, and would subject officials who knowingly conceal, destroy, falsify, or withhold records to existing federal criminal penalties. A discharge petition does not itself pass the bill; after the required waiting period, a signer must still move to discharge, and the House must then vote.

Documented context: This is the second Massie-Khanna maneuver of its kind. The original Epstein Files Transparency Act became Public Law 119-38 on November 19, 2025, after the House passed it 427-1 and the Senate cleared it by unanimous consent; President Trump signed it after initially opposing it, Politico and Congress.gov record. That law required the Justice Department to publish unclassified Epstein-related records in its possession.

Claimed, not independently settled here: Massie has said the department “flagrantly and consistently ignored” the first law and continues to withhold more than 3 million Epstein files. The department has described large releases—reporting cited by multiple outlets puts the public dump in the millions of pages, plus videos and images—while critics, including a GOP-led House Oversight review reported in November 2026, have faulted the pace, redactions, and completeness of compliance. What remains withheld, and whether any withholding is unlawful under the 2025 statute, is disputed and would be the point of the lawsuits the new bill would authorize.

Speculated, not shown by the signature count alone: That the petition marks a lasting fracture in Republican leadership, or that a floor vote will produce further releases or prosecutions. The documented fact is narrower: a lame-duck Republican and nearly the entire Democratic caucus used a rarely successful procedural tool, for the second time on this subject, to force the House to confront a follow-on transparency bill that leadership had not brought up.