The Senate on Tuesday passed without delay to a measure that will mandate the disclosure of case documents associated with the deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, after a almost unanimous vote in the lower house and a reversal by Donald Trump and his Republican allies. The White House relented after months of trying to block the cross-party initiative involving a controversy that has dogged the president since his return to the White House.
Expedited Passage in Congress
The Senate acted by unanimous consent, which requires approval from each senator but avoids a formal roll call vote, speeding up the process. Just before, the House overwhelmingly approved the bill on a near-unanimous vote.
“The American people have endured sufficient delay. Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have suffered long enough,” the Senate Democratic leader said in a Senate remarks on Tuesday, before requesting the Senate to adopt it by consent. “Reveal the truth. Let transparency reign.”
Presidential Signature
This legislation next will be sent to Trump for his approval. The president signaled on Monday that he would sign the measure.
Even though the president has for an extended period dismissed the outcry over the official management of the investigation as a “false narrative”, he expressed his backing for the measure over the past few days, and said he would give his assent if it comes to him.
Response
The Democratic party, along with victims and their supporters who were seated in a public section, cheered after the bill was passed. Lone dissent came from a GOP representative, who said he worried the measure would reveal personal information of witnesses, persons of interest and others implicated in the investigation.
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