The House’s decisive vote Tuesday to require the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, after President Donald Trump unexpectedly urged Republicans to support it, has thrust the controversy into the center of the 2026 political stage.
Trump had spent weeks dismissing the push for disclosure as a Democratic distraction. But on Sunday night, he abruptly told Republicans they should back the measure “because we have nothing to hide,” prompting near-unanimous GOP support. All but one Republican voted for the bill requiring the Justice Department to make the files public.
The rapid sequence of events underscored how enduring the Epstein scandal remains and how quickly it can overshadow the economic message Trump hoped to emphasize heading into the midterms. A Reuters/Ipsos poll from October found that although nine in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance, fewer than half are satisfied with how he has handled the Epstein issue.
“The idea that this was just going to fade was always a fantasy,” said a GOP strategist who requested anonymity to avoid antagonizing clients close to the White House. “There’s really no clean way to deal with this. You can’t prove something didn’t happen, and that’s exactly the bind Trump is in.”
Some Trump supporters have long circulated conspiracy theories about Epstein’s circle and the circumstances of his death. And while Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing, his administration’s past refusal to release the files, citing privacy concerns, has fueled frustration among parts of his base.
After days of avoiding questions from reporters, Trump addressed the controversy late Friday, arguing the attention was overshadowing his accomplishments. “When you talk about the Epstein hoax, what happens is, you’re not talking about how well we’ve done,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One. “They want to waste people’s time, and some of the dumber Republicans like that.”
Georgia’s U.S. Senate race is emerging as the first real test of how the fallout could shape competitive contests. All three leading Republican contenders, each competing aggressively for a coveted Trump endorsement, now support releasing the files. Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Mike Collins (R-GA) voted for the measure after Trump reversed himself, while former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley said he would back it.
A spokesperson for Dooley said he “agrees with President Trump that the files should be released so we can move on from this distraction and hypocrisy from typical D.C. politicians.”
Carter, who had previously dismissed Democratic calls for disclosure, echoed Trump’s framing after switching his vote. “I’ve said all along that this is a Democrat distraction, designed to deflect from the failure of the Ossoff Schumer shutdown,” he said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “While these games are beneath Congress, I trust President Trump’s plan to get quickly past this and will follow his lead so we can put this hoax behind us once and for all.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in 2026, has been pressuring his potential GOP rivals to support the release, urging them to side with “the majority of Georgians who want the sexual predator president who used to party with Jeffrey Epstein himself to release the Epstein files.”
The strategist with White House ties, said Trump’s last-minute pivot was likely his only viable play. “The smartest thing he did was giving Republicans the green light to vote for it, which gives them some political cover heading into 2026.”
Other Republican strategists say the episode exposes deeper strains inside the party.
Dennis Lennox, a Michigan-based GOP strategist, said the moment reflects tensions emerging even inside the MAGA and America First wings.
“While Trump is without question still the leader of the Republican Party, this is illustrative of the growing divide among Republicans, even within MAGA and America First, over issues,” he said. “There are more faces giving voice to issues and policy stances that they believe is MAGA and America First orthodoxy but not official Trump doctrine.”
He said the divide will naturally widen as Republicans position themselves for the post-Trump era.
Not all Republicans believe the issue will resonate beyond Washington. “If it does impact [the midterms], I imagine voters will see it for the desperate political stunt from Democrats that it is,” said longtime GOP operative Chris Pack. “People care about affordability, not the Democrats’ pathetic political stunt involving a dead pedophile, who is burning in hell.”
Democrats argue that Republicans are misreading the political risks. Democratic strategist Brad Bannon said the vote itself “is academic,” and that what matters is what the files contain. “Even if you were a Republican who voted to release the files and there’s stuff in there that makes Trump look bad, your constituents are still going to hold you accountable,” he said.
Bannon added that Republicans followed Trump because they always do. “Trump could tell nearly any Republican to jump off the Empire State Building except for that one, and they would ask him head first or feet first,” he said. He warned that next year’s elections will be driven by the state of the economy and any damaging revelations that emerge, creating “a one two punch” he said, that could “blow Republicans off the electoral map a year from now.”
EVERY HOUSE REPUBLICAN, BAR ONE, VOTES TO RELEASE EPSTEIN FILES
What happens next hinges on the documents themselves. If their release produces new information or renews scrutiny of President Trump, the political fallout could extend well beyond Tuesday’s vote. If not, the clash may prove only a temporary detour in a midterm cycle that is still taking shape and is likely to be dominated by the economy.