A discharge petition to force a vote on a second Epstein files bill has reached 218 signatures, according to reports from CBS News, The Hill and ABC News. CBS News reported that Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican, launched the petition over the summer to circumvent leadership and force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II.
The Hill reported that Massie announced he had received enough signatures from lawmakers to force a vote on his petition. In a social media post, Massie wrote that the petition had reached "the required 218 signatures." The Hill described Jeffrey Epstein as a disgraced financier and convicted pedophile. Its report also refers to Democrats, but the text available for this summary is cut off before it gives details about them.
ABC News reported that the petition had amassed 218 signatures, a step that teed up additional floor action on the prospective bill.
The three reports describe the same threshold and the same bill. CBS News framed the development as enough support for a vote, while ABC News focused on the floor action that the signatures make possible. None of the available summaries says when a vote would take place or what the bill would require, and none of them provides additional vote counts or statements from other lawmakers beyond those described above.
The petition was launched by Massie, who has pursued the measure outside of party leadership channels, according to CBS News. Discharge petitions allow lawmakers to bring a measure to a vote when leadership has not scheduled one, and the sources indicate that Massie's effort was designed to do exactly that for the second Epstein files bill.
Sources: CBS News: Petition for new Epstein files bill gets enough support for vote; The Hill: Massie secures signatures to force vote on second Epstein files petition; ABC News: Discharge petition on 2nd Epstein files bill secures 218 signatures.