Fight over Epstein files holds up Trump DOGE cuts bill
Source: The Hill
07/17/25 4:59 PM ET
The fight over how the Trump administration has handled disclosures relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is holding up final approval of a bill to codify $9 billion in Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts to public broadcasting and foreign aid.
Republicans on the House Rules Committee huddled with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) for more than an hour Thursday afternoon as the group searched for a path forward on the Epstein saga, which has inundated Capitol Hill and fractured the GOP. The Senate approved the $9 billion rescissions package in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and the clock is ticking on the matter.
If the measure is not codified by Friday, the White House must release the funds it requested to withhold. Because the Senate made changes to the package to remove a provision cutting funding for a global AIDS fund, the House must bring up the bill again through the House Rules Committee before it goes to the House floor. The discussion over what to do about the Epstein saga — and negotiations with Johnson and GOP leadership about a GOP-backed Epstein file release measure — is delaying that effort.
Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, said the panel was originally supposed to meet at 10 a.m. Thursday to consider the rescissions package, but that got pushed as the Republicans negotiated on how to handle the Epstein matter.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5407191-epstein-files-trump-doge-cuts/
Johnson always keep pulling those rabbits out of his hat but it would be nice for a change that he ends up with a Bullwinkle FAIL instead.
= new reply since forum marked as read
