Washington — The House is expected to finally vote Tuesday on a bill that would compel the Justice Department to release materials related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after GOP leaders dragged out the process for months. 

The issue has disrupted committee meetings, stalled floor action on other legislation since this summer and fueled President Trump's tirades against some House Republicans, most recently GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. House Speaker Mike Johnson expedited a vote on the issue after more than half of all House members — including every Democrat and four Republicans — signed a petition forcing a vote.

Mr. Trump suddenly reversed his opposition to the bill late Sunday after it appeared all but certain there would be mass Republican defections. 

But House passage isn't enough on its own. Here's what to know about the process, what comes next, and how we got here.

What the House's Epstein bill would do 

The bill would require the attorney general to make public all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials in possession of the Justice Department, the FBI and U.S. attorneys' offices within 30 days of becoming law. 

Information that falls under that umbrella includes investigative and prosecutorial materials related to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as flight logs, travel records and materials about Epstein's detention and death. It also calls for the release of names of individuals and entities referenced in any Epstein case and internal Justice Department communications about the case. 

It would also make public any records "concerning the destruction, deletion, alteration, misplacement, or concealment of documents, recordings, or electronic data" related to Epstein and his associates.

What files does the DOJ have on Epstein?

It's not clear what — or how many — records the Justice Department has in its possession, but Epstein and Maxwell have been the subject of multiple federal investigations. 

Epstein was investigated by federal and state officials in Florida in the 2000s, which ended with him pleading guilty to state-level prosecution charges. He was investigated again more than a decade later, leading to federal charges in 2019 for allegedly sex trafficking minors. 

Maxwell was charged in 2020, and she is now serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in helping Epstein recruit, groom and abuse underage girls. 

And Epstein's 2019 death by suicide in federal custody was probed by the Justice Department.

Thousands of pages of documents related to Epstein, including emails, flight logs and other material, have already been released to the public by the House Oversight Committee and by a federal judge who oversaw the settlement of a lawsuit against Maxwell. 

What happens next? 

Even if it passes the House, the bill's fate in the Senate is uncertain. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, was noncommittal about bringing it up for a vote when asked in September. On Sunday, before Mr. Trump encouraged lawmakers to vote for the bill, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, expressed a similar sentiment. 

"It'll come to the Senate. We'll take a look at it," he told NBC's "Meet the Press." "But to me, this is not about truth. It's not about justice. This is about an attempt by the Democrats to make President Trump a lame duck president. I'm not going to aid and abet them in their efforts to do that." 

Johnson said he expects the Senate will make changes to the bill. Johnson does not believe the bill goes far enough to protect victims, but told reporters Monday, "I do have some comfort that … if and when it's processed in the Senate, that they'll be able to correct some of those concerns." 

The bill would be sent back to the House for approval if it's amended in the Senate. 

Mr. Trump told reporters Monday he would sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. 

The president also has the power to order the Justice Department to release the files without action from Congress, but he has not indicated any plans to do so.

Lawmakers push for Epstein files' release 

The bill's lead sponsors — Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky — have led the charge in the House for the documents' release. First, they introduced legislation that would force the Justice Department to make Epstein-related files public within 30 days, and they later used a procedural maneuver to bypass House leaders, who control what legislation hits the floor. 

The procedural maneuver, known as a discharge petition, secured the final signature needed to force a vote last Wednesday, when newly seated Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona added her name. Her swearing-in was delayed for seven weeks while the House was on an extended break during the shutdown. 

Instead of waiting until early December, when Johnson would be required to hold a vote on the issue under the rules governing the discharge petition process, the speaker is now seeking to move on sooner. 

"It's a totally pointless exercise," Johnson said last week about why he was now choosing to accelerate the vote. "It is completely moot now. We might as well just do it." 

Massie said Johnson's decision to drag out the vote for months "caused nothing but political pain." Greene called Mr. Trump's previous opposition to releasing the files a "huge miscalculation." 

Anywhere from 40 to more than 100 House Republicans could end up voting for passage, Massie and Khanna have predicted. 

Johnson has repeatedly criticized the effort by Democrats and some Republicans to force a vote, saying their measure lacked enough protections for Epstein's victims. More recently, Johnson has touted the House Oversight Committee's investigation as sufficient. 

The Republican-led committee has so far released tens of thousands of documents from Epstein's estate and the Justice Department, as well as transcripts from interviews with former government officials about their handling of the case. The committee has also sought to depose Maxwell. 

The most recent release contained text messages and emails from Epstein in which he alluded to having dirt on Mr. Trump. In his correspondence with others, Epstein said of Mr. Trump, "of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop," and referred to him as the "dog that hasn't barked." 

"You see, I know how dirty Donald is," Epstein wrote in an email chain discussing a 2018 New York Times opinion column on impeachment. 

Mr. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes related to the Epstein case. He and Epstein knew each other in New York and Palm Beach social circles in the 1990s and early 2000s, but Mr. Trump has said he cut ties years ago.

Even Republicans who have supported making the Epstein materials public have defended Mr. Trump against criticism of his appearances in the files, arguing Democrats have cherry-picked details to damage the president. 

Trump weighs in

Mr. Trump has accused Democrats of focusing on Epstein to deflect from the shutdown, which ended last week after 43 days. He also said he's ordering the Justice Department to investigate Epstein's relationships with prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, and major financial institutions. 

But late Sunday, Mr. Trump ended his pressure campaign against the House bill, saying "House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide." 

Mr. Trump had previously lashed out at Republicans supportive of the efforts, calling them "weak and ineffective." In recent days, he pulled his endorsement from Greene, who was once a close ally, bashing her as a "traitor." 

Greene said the Epstein files "sent him over the edge" and alleged Mr. Trump had directed his ire at her "to scare all the other Republicans" from voting to make the materials public. 

"It's astonishing really how hard he's fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level," she wrote on Friday. 

On Saturday, she added, "It really makes you wonder what is in those files and who and what country is putting so much pressure on him?" 

Massie pondered Sunday whether Mr. Trump's directive for the Justice Department to investigate Clinton and others was an attempt to block the files from becoming public. 

"If they have ongoing investigations in certain areas, those documents can't be released," Massie told ABC News' "This Week." "So this might be a big smoke screen … a last-ditch effort to prevent the release of the Epstein files." 

Trump administration's handling of Epstein files 

The Trump administration's handling of the Epstein materials has divided Mr. Trump's base. 

Some of those who believe that the federal government has concealed information about Epstein to protect powerful figures have been disappointed by his administration's disclosures so far.

When right-wing influencers visited the White House in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi gave the group binders labeled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1." But she faced criticism after the influencers said that the binders contained documents that had been public for years.

Months later, a July memo from the Justice Department and FBI said they had conducted an "exhaustive review" of material related to Epstein and "did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties." There was no "client list" or "credible evidence" that Epstein blackmailed prominent figures, according to the memo, which also confirmed that Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail. 

Bondi had previously suggested a "client list" was sitting on her desk.

After pressure from members of both parties, the Trump administration asked courts to unseal grand jury materials from the Epstein and Maxwell cases earlier this year, but those moves have been rejected by judges.