The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday, 427-1, to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a measure that would compel the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release all unclassified records related to its investigations into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The near-unanimous vote reflects a months-long bipartisan push for greater transparency into the high-profile case. However, the lone dissenting vote came from Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, who argued that the bill, in its current form, poses a threat to innocent individuals.
The Act requires the DOJ to publish the unclassified records, while still allowing the department to protect genuinely classified material and information related to active probes.
Higgins explained his vote on X, stating that the sweeping nature of the release could cause significant harm.
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“If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt,” Higgins wrote.
The congressman emphasized his support for transparency but argued that the House Oversight Committee is already releasing volumes of Epstein material in a manner that provides “all due protections for innocent Americans.”
Last week, Committee Republicans announced they had released another 20,000 pages from the Epstein estate as part of their ongoing probe.
Higgins indicated he would support an amended version of the bill passed by the Senate that offers better safeguards for victims and uncharged Americans named in the files.
The effort to pass the legislation was spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). Speaker Mike Johnson, who backed the final passage, echoed some of Higgins’s concerns, urging the Senate to add stronger privacy guardrails before the bill is sent to President Donald Trump.
The bill now moves to the Senate.
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