The Senate on Tuesday quickly approved to a bill that will force the release of case documents concerning the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, following a overwhelming vote in the lower house and a shift by Donald Trump and his Republican allies. The White House gave in after months of trying to delay the bipartisan effort involving a controversy that has followed the president since his return to the White House.
Swift Approval in Congress
The Senate acted by unanimous consent, which needs acceptance from each senator but does not require a individual voting process, expediting the process. Just before, the House passed by a huge margin the bill on a near-unanimous vote.
“The American people have been patient long enough. Jeffrey Epstein’s victims have suffered long enough,” Chuck Schumer said in a Senate remarks on Tuesday, before requesting the Senate to pass it unanimously. “Let the truth come out. Allow openness to prevail.”
Next Steps
The measure next heads to the president for his signature. The president indicated on the previous day that he would sign the measure.
Although the president has for an extended period dismissed the uproar over the authorities' approach of the investigation as a “Democrat hoax”, he signalled his support for the measure over the past few days, and said he would sign the measure if it is presented to him.
Response
Opposition lawmakers, along with those affected and their supporters who were watching from a viewing area, broke into applause after the bill was approved. Lone dissent came from Clay Higgins, who said he feared the measure would make public identifying details of witnesses, persons of interest and others caught up in the investigation.
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