Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in a recent interview claimed Democrats who are now seeking more details about the Jeffrey Epstein case “never once” did so while he was in charge of the GOP-led House during the Biden administration.

“They never asked about it — they tried to hide from it,” McCarthy said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Thursday. “[Trump] didn’t hide from this — he had the authorities investigate this.”

“You know what I want? President Trump focused on exactly why we elected him, and that’s what he’s doing,” the California Republican added, lauding Trump’s economic and foreign policy since returning to the White House.

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McCarthy was ousted from his leadership post in 2023 and retired weeks later from the lower chamber. In his latest remarks, the former Speaker defended the Trump administration’s handling of the federal probe into Epstein, the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

The administration has faced fallout from Democrats and the president’s MAGA base since the Justice Department and FBI issued a joint memo concluding that Epstein didn’t keep a client list. The finding runs counter to what Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier this year and sparked calls for greater transparency.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday night that Trump allegedly penned a “bawdy” 50th birthday note to the disgraced financier in 2003 before Epstein faced sex trafficking allegations and when the two were known associates. The president denied writing the message and threatened to sue the publication.

Calls for the administration to release more documents have only grown in recent days, despite Trump’s efforts to move on from the topic.

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“We need total disclosure of the complete file, redacting only the names and the identities of the minor victims,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said during an MSNBC appearance Thursday. “There is overwhelming bipartisan, popular demand, Congressional demand, to release all of this stuff.”

Trump on Friday leaned into the same argument as McCarthy, asking why Democrats did not release more files when they controlled the Senate and White House.

“If there was a ‘smoking gun’ on Epstein, why didn’t the Dems, who controlled the ‘files’ for four years, and had [former Attorney General Merrick] Garland and [ex-prosecutor Maureen] Comey in charge, use it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!”

McCarthy’s comments come a day after the president intervened, directing Bondi to release relevant grand jury testimony in the case. In response, the attorney general said she would ask a federal court to do so.

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Democrats on Capitol Hill are furious with the Trump administration and their Republican counterparts for undercutting government funding negotiations, but they aren’t showing a unified strategy for forcing the GOP to change course 10 weeks out from a shutdown deadline.

In the House, Republicans are ignoring Democratic priorities in government funding bills, moving forward with deep spending cuts and conservative policy riders — including to restrict abortions, block enforcement of a slew of gun regulations and snuff out federal hiring efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

In the Senate, Democrats have more leverage, where 60 votes will be needed to move forward and GOP leaders are already advancing funding bills with buy-in from across the aisle. But so far Democrats are stopping short of flashing the most powerful tool they have to ensure the end result is to their liking: threatening a shutdown come Oct. 1 if they don’t get their way.

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Democrats can shame administration officials who are openly dismissing the need for bipartisanship in funding talks — and the Republicans backing them up. Yet Democrats have little power to ensure they get to shape whatever legislation Congress passes to keep federal cash flowing beyond September, or stop President Donald Trump from freezing, canceling and now clawing back funding Congress already approved.

“To be blunt, I don’t think there’s one tactic or approach that is going to solve this from any individual Democrat,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), a top appropriator, said in an interview. “The Republicans have to decide whether they want to be totally lobotomized or not.”

The dynamic underscores the bind that Democrats could find themselves in once again, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took intense heat from across his party for helping pave the way for passage of Republicans’ government funding extension in March. And despite pressure to play hardball, Democrats at this moment are still searching for leverage.

“They’re just throwing stuff against the wall because they’re losing this fight,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said in an interview.

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Democrats are talking openly about how they have few options for stopping Trump or his allies in Congress from driving all major government funding decisions and undermining the cash lawmakers already appropriated on a bipartisan basis. Since Senate Democrats went along with the March continuing resolution, Trump has continued to unilaterally slash broad swaths of the federal bureaucracy.

Last week, he successfully pushed Hill Republicans to approve $9 billion in funding clawbacks for foreign aid and local media — the first time Congress has approved a rescissions package in 30 years.

Some Republicans are sympathetic to the Democratic position that Trump and his White House budget chief, Russ Vought, are running roughshod over Congress’ “power of the purse” and should be challenged.

Two GOP senators — Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine and another senior appropriator, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski — voted against Trump’s rescissions package. Several more voted “yes” but still spoke critically of the Trump administration’s unwillingness to detail specific accounts that will be cut, as well as the chilling effect the Republican clawbacks could have on bipartisan funding negotiations.

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After Vought told reporters Thursday that “the appropriations process has to be less bipartisan,” Collins urged fellow appropriators that “the best way for us to counter what has been said by the OMB director is to continue to work in a bipartisan way. And I hope that we are going to do so.”

But Democrats need more than just Collins to come to the defense of Congress’ funding prerogative.

“We’ve got to work to make sure that there are several others on the other side of the aisle who have the stomach and the strength and the spine to stand up and say: ‘No, don’t take it away from the Congress. It’s our job,’” Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House’s top Democratic appropriator, told reporters Thursday night before the House passed the package to nix $9 billion.

Democrats also need to help boost the legal fights against Trump’s funding moves, DeLauro added, as more than 100 of those lawsuits play out in courtrooms throughout the country.

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As Democrats hope for a critical mass of Republicans willing to defy Trump, some are testing out a more hardline position of warning Republicans they could have to go at it alone in a funding fight this fall. In a joint statement after House Republicans cleared Trump’s recessions package just after midnight Friday, the House’s top three Democrats fired off a warning shot that pinned the onus on Republicans to avoid a funding lapse in the coming months.

“Tonight’s vote, coming hours after the Trump White House abandoned the bipartisan appropriations process, makes it clear that House Republicans are determined to march this country toward a painful government shutdown later this year,” said Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Kathrine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar.

And Schumer said in a letter to his caucus earlier this month that Republicans “know it is absurd” to count on Democrats supporting the pursuit of fiscal 2026 funding bills if the GOP votes along party lines to delete existing funding or pile on more cash. That’s what Republicans did in boosting military and border security budgets through their tax and spending megabill Trump signed on July 4.

But Schumer also stopped short of delivering a clear threat ahead of the September shutdown deadline. And Democrats aren’t yet willing to give up on funding negotiations with their GOP colleagues, even after Republicans ignored their warnings about eroding trust in bipartisan talks by backing the clawbacks package last week.

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In fact, Democratic appropriators are largely leaning in, especially in the Senate, where GOP leaders plan to bring bipartisan funding measures to the floor as soon as this week.

“I think the most important thing for us to do is to continue to move the appropriations process as expeditiously as we can, to try and find bipartisan agreement,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a top appropriator, said in an interview, “because it’s in everybody’s interest to do this and to move forward.”

Cassandra Dumay and Calen Razor contributed to this report.

President Trump asked Friday why the Democrats — when they controlled the Senate and White House — did not release the files linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, which have dominated the headlines in recent days.

“If there was a ‘smoking gun’ on Epstein, why didn’t the Dems, who controlled the ‘files’ for four years, and had [former Attorney General Merrick] Garland and [ex-prosecutor Maureen] Comey in charge, use it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He added, “BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!”

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His comment came hours after he directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to release relevant grand jury testimony in Epstein’s case. The directive, which has garnered mixed reactions, follows pressure from some of Trump’s supporters and Democrats alike for the White House to disclose more information about its probe of the case.

“Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,” Trump wrote Thursday evening on Truth Social. “This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!”

Bondi responded on the social platform X, saying the Justice Department is “ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”

Trump’s MAGA base has urged the Trump administration to work on releasing more documents related to the case since the Justice Department and FBI issued a joint memo last week concluding Epstein’s 2019 death was a suicide and that he did not have a “client list.”

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The president’s directive to Bondi came just hours after The Wall Street Journal published a report detailing an alleged letter the president wrote to Epstein for the financier’s 50th birthday in 2003. The letter was typed inside the outline of a naked woman, ending with “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the Journal reported.

In response, Trump hammered the Journal, saying he would sue the news outlet and denying that he wrote the letter.

“President Trump will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch, shortly,” Trump wrote Thursday online. “The Press has to learn to be truthful, and not rely on sources that probably don’t even exist.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, Congresswoman Erin Houchin (IN-09) announced the introduction of a resolution calling on the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files within 30 days, while ensuring protections for victims remain in place.

Erin Houchin

“I have always supported full transparency when it comes to the Epstein files, and I’m glad to back President Trump in that effort,” said Rep. Houchin. “Earlier this week, I refused to hand this process over to Democrats trying to exploit it for political gain. Their amendment in the Rules Committee was nothing more than a stunt—reckless and completely lacking the victim protections this issue demands.”

Before her time in Congress, Houchin served as a case manager in child protective services and worked closely with victims of abuse.

“I’ve seen the trauma these children endure,” said Rep. Houchin. “I refuse to let Democrats and their media allies play games that would further harm innocent victims. Anyone involved in these horrific crimes must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The resolution introduced provides a clear path forward to work with the Trump Administration to: release the files within 30 days, protect the victims, and deliver the transparency the American people demand.