WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is rebuffing pressure to act on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, instead sending members home early for a month-long break from Washington after the week’s legislative agenda was upended by Republican members who are clamoring for a vote.

Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said Tuesday morning that he wants to give the White House “space” to release the Epstein information on its own, despite the bipartisan push for legislation that aims to force the release of more documents.

“There’s no purpose for the Congress to push an administration to do something they’re already doing,” Johnson said at his weekly press conference, his last before lawmakers depart Washington on Wednesday for their traditional August recess.

The speaker’s stance did little to alleviate the intra-party turmoil unfolding on Capitol Hill as many of President Donald Trump’s supporters demand that the administration meet its promises to publicly release a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein, who killed himself in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. Under pressure from right-wing online influencers, as well as voters back home, rank-and-file Republicans are demanding that the House intervene in the matter.

“The public’s not going to let this die, and rightfully so,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican.

Johnson’s control of the House is under threat

The dynamic left Johnson with slipping control of his Republican conference and several crucial committees. Even before Johnson spoke Tuesday morning, a Republican-controlled subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight was advancing a resolution to subpoena Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, for a deposition.

WATCH: Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on the public response to Trump’s handling of the Epstein case

Johnson decided to end the House’s legislative business early this week after he essentially lost control of the powerful House Rules Committee, which sends bills to the floor for debates and votes. Late Monday evening, business on that panel ground to a halt when the Republicans on the committee abruptly recessed proceedings rather than risk more proposals from Democrats pushing them to release Epstein files.

Republicans had teed up votes on legislation to increase penalties for migrants who enter the country illegally, to ease permitting for water infrastructure and to rollback several Biden-era regulations. But all of those bills were put on hold at least until after the August recess.

Frustration in the House has been running high since last week, when Republican leaders signaled possible support for a vote on the Epstein files as they raced to pass a $9 billion package of spending cuts. GOP leader unveiled a resolution that has no legal weight but would urge the Justice Department to produce more documentation. Trump, meanwhile, has asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of testimony from secret grand jury proceedings in the case, though that effort is unlikely to produce new revelations.

Echoing Trump’s position, Johnson insisted he, too, wants the files released, but only those that are “credible.” Johnson, who has relied heavily on Trump to hold onto leadership in the House, cast the president’s reticence to release information as out of concern for the victims of Epstein.

“We have a moral responsibility to expose the evil of Epstein and everybody who was involved in that — absolutely — and we’re resolved to do it,” Johnson said. “But we also have an equal moral responsibility to protect the innocent, and that is a fine needle to thread.”

A political wedge

Even with the month-long break, the pressure on Johnson is unlikely to end. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican whose contrarian stances are often a thorn in the side to leadership, is gathering support for a legislative maneuver to force the bipartisan bill to a House vote, even without leadership’s consent.

“Now, there are a lot of people here in the swamp who think that, ‘Oh, well, if we spend five weeks on vacation, the pressure for this will dissipate. I don’t think it’s going to dissipate.’” Massie told reporters Monday evening.

WATCH: What is publicly known about Trump’s yearslong relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

Democrats have watched it all unfold with glee and worked to inflame the conflict among Republicans by making their own calls for transparency on the Epstein investigation. They have repeatedly tried to force votes on the matter, casting it as an issue of trust in the government.

“It’s about transparency in government. It’s about whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the rich and powerful, protecting men? Or are you on the side of young girls and America’s children?” said Rep. Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who put forward the legislation alongside Massie.

Epstein sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, exploiting vulnerable girls as young as 14, authorities say. He couldn’t have done so without the help of Maxwell, his longtime companion, prosecutors contend.

Massie said the case is palpable enough to carry significant political consequences.

“This will be an issue that does follow Republicans through the midterms, and it will follow each individual Republican through the midterms. It will follow people into their primaries. Did you support transparency and justice, or did you come up here, get elected and fall into the swamp?” he told reporters.

He added, “I think it is a watershed moment for the speaker of the House and the president.”

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.

Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways

By Bo Erickson, Richard Cowan, Katharine Jackson and Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson was reelected to the chamber’s top job on Friday by a razor-thin margin that highlighted potential fissures among President-elect Donald Trump’s Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Johnson appeared to initially fall short of the majority he needed to retain his job in a roll-call vote that lasted nearly two hours, but two Republican opponents switched their votes to support him after lengthy negotiations, with at least one reporting receiving a call from Trump himself.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Johnson won reelection with 218 votes – the minimum number needed. Republicans control the chamber by a razor-thin 219-215 majority.

Following the vote, Johnson vowed to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which are due to expire this year and roll back regulations.

“We’re going to drastically cut back the size and scope of government,” he said.

Other big challenges will loom, including addressing the nation’s more than $36 trillion in debt, which Congress will need to act on later this year.

Friday’s vote was an early test of Republicans’ ability to hang together as they advances Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and border enforcement. It also tested Trump’s clout on Capitol Hill, where a handful of Republicans have shown a willingness to defy him.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

House Republicans have been racked by internal divisions over the last two years. Johnson was elevated to speaker after the party ousted his predecessor Kevin McCarthy in the middle of his term.

Members of Congress milled around the chamber for more than half an hour after voting had concluded, where Johnson and his lieutenants could be seen trying to persuade the holdouts.

Representative Keith Self, one of three Republicans to initially vote against Johnson, said he had a “lively” discussion with Trump after doing so. He said he secured a promise that members from the party’s right wing would be included in efforts to shape high-profile tax and immigration bills.

“We needed more input from members like myself — not a chairman, not a leadership position — and I think that’s what we have done,” he told reporters.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Along with Representative Ralph Norman, Self returned to the House floor to vote for Johnson. A lawmaker close to Johnson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the speaker promised to run the House in a “constructive” way but did not agree to any specific rules changes to win their support.

Representative Thomas Massie, a vocal opponent of Johnson who has long been a thorn in the side of his party’s leadership, was the lone Republican to vote against him.

Another six Republicans had initially declined to vote at all before casting ballots for Johnson.

A Reuters photographer captured an image of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who voted for Johnson, talking on her iPhone with the name Susie Wiles – Trump’s incoming chief of staff – visible on the screen.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Trump congratulated Johnson following the vote. “Mike will be a Great Speaker, and our Country will be the beneficiary,” he wrote on social media.

LAUNCHED OUT OF TURMOIL

The mild-mannered Louisiana representative, 52, was vaulted from obscurity into one of Washington’s most powerful jobs during three weeks of turmoil in October 2023, when Republicans forced out McCarthy and struggled to agree on a successor. The conservative Christian lawyer emerged as a consensus pick, but has since struggled to keep his party unified.

In a role that is second in line to the presidency after the vice president, Johnson will have a big job ahead. In addition to taking on Trump’s sweeping legislative agenda, Congress will need to address the nation’s debt ceiling later this year.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Johnson’s 219-215 Republican majority is likely to narrow even further, at least temporarily, if the Senate confirms two Republican lawmakers to positions in Trump’s administration, which begins Jan. 20.

Trump has nominated Elise Stefanik to serve as ambassador to the United Nations and Mike Waltz to serve as his national security adviser. Another seat is vacant, as Republican Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress when he was nominated to serve as Trump’s attorney general. Gaetz withdrew from that position as well in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct.

All three seats, which represent solidly Republican districts, are due to be filled in special elections later this year.

Republicans were also sworn into their new 53-47 Senate majority on Friday with Senator John Thune as their new leader.

Advertisement Advertisement

Advertisement Advertisement

Johnson over the past year angered some conservatives by repeatedly turning to Democrats to provide the votes to pass critical legislation, like bills to keep government agencies operating. He also faced a last-minute challenge late last month when Trump told House Republicans to scrap a government funding deal, demanding it also raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

A revised version of that bill – not including Trump’s debt-ceiling demand – passed the House only a few hours before the government would have shut down, and it received more support from Democrats than Republicans.

(Reporting by Bo Erickson, Richard Cowan and Katharine Jackson; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Howard Goller and Alistair Bell)