LINCOLN — Every member of Nebraska’s all-Republican congressional delegation voted for a bill to compel the U.S. Department of Justice to release all files related to its investigation into late Florida sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

After months of stalling by House GOP leaders and White House pressure to prevent the vote — with a federal government shutdown in between — the House voted 427-1 to advance the bill that had to be forced onto the House floor last week by a bipartisan discharge petition.

Nebraska U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., had told the Examiner in September that he would vote for releasing the files if the measure reached the floor after not signing the discharge petition. Bacon has criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the files.

He said he supported the release of “any Epstein documents held by the executive branch,” but he has said he presumed there’s not much there, because both sides have leaked them over the past five years.

“This is the most porous town in the world … I’m also proud of the work done by the Oversight Committee that has released thousands of documents to the public already,” Bacon said in a statement.

A House committee has subpoenaed people seeking more information, including Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s co-conspirator, several former U.S. attorneys, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The committee, led by U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., released a massive trove of emails from Epstein’s estate after the panel’s Democrats released a selection of the correspondence that included the allegation that Trump “knew about the girls because he asked ghislaine to stop.”

Some emails have hinted that Epstein has ties to Israeli intelligence, according to left-leaning news site Drop Site News. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican, alluded to this during a CNN interview last week.

Hours after the House vote, the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent. It heads to Trump Tuesday evening. U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., told the Examiner he would vote for it.

“Jeffrey Epstein committed disgusting, illegal acts. I support releasing the Epstein files. Protecting his victims is also incredibly important,” Ricketts said.

U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said in a statement, “Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes were abhorrent and the files should be released in a manner that protects victims but gives them the justice they rightfully deserve.”

The discharge petition that pushed the bill to the floor, co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, and Kentucky Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, got the needed signatures after the House’s newest Democrat, Arizona’s Adelita Grijalva, was sworn in last week.

Three other House Republicans, Greene, South Carolina’s Nancy Mace and Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, joined all Democrats in signing on.

Trump changed course and told House Republicans to vote for the bill on Sunday night after he failed to pressure them to withdraw their signatures. The move is seen as a political retreat to avoid an embarrassing loss for the White House.

Trump said Monday that he would sign the bill if Congress passes it.

Nebraska’s 1st District U.S. Rep. Mike Flood voted for the bill. He told NOTUS he was a “yes two months ago.” He criticized the bill in September, saying it was “written in a sloppy way” and “all-out reckless” to CNN. He opposed the discharge petition, he said, because “I support regular order.”

But Flood restated his support for releasing the Epstein files and hoped the Senate would tweak the bill.

Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith said the “vote is another small step towards accountability and justice for the survivors of these heinous crimes.”

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/11/18/nebraska-federal-delegation-vote...