Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on the Senate floor Wednesday that he will file an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all files and documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, a move intended to force Senate Republicans to go on record on the matter.
Schumer told reporters his amendment is effectively the same as a House discharge petition being advanced by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. "There's been so much lying, obfuscation, cover-ups," Schumer said. "The American people need to see everything that's in the Epstein files. And my amendment would make that happen."
Schumer’s surprise maneuver comes as Senate Republicans and Democrats negotiate language for the annual defense bill and attempt to find compromise on a short-term government funding extension ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline. A Senate Republican aide described the move to Fox News Digital as "an extremely hostile act," saying it could jeopardize bipartisan negotiations.
The push to force public disclosure of records follows renewed attention to materials recently provided to the House Oversight Committee by the Epstein estate. The committee released a card from what it described as Epstein’s "birthday book" that it said was allegedly sent by former President Donald Trump; the Wall Street Journal first reported the card’s existence. The White House has denied the veracity of the card and disputed that the handwriting on it is Trump’s.
The Epstein controversy has driven heated exchanges in the House and produced only isolated clashes in the Senate to date, including late-July confrontations between Sens. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. Democrats have used procedural tactics to slow Senate consideration of President Donald Trump’s nominees, prompting Republican warnings that they may invoke the so-called "nuclear option" to clear a slate of confirmations.
When pressed about why Democrats did not make the files public during the Biden administration, Schumer directed his criticism at Trump. "Look, the bottom line is the American people need to see this," he said on the Senate floor. "Donald Trump has lied about this. There was no picture. There was no drawing. There have been so many lies, so much prevarication, so much cover‑up. The American people, Democrats, Independents, Republicans are demanding it be made public, and it should be. We hope Republicans will vote for it. They should."
The timing of Schumer’s amendment places it in the middle of broader legislative negotiations tied to national defense funding and a looming stopgap that would keep the government open. Senate Republicans said the move risks complicating talks on both the NDAA and a short-term funding bill.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and did not immediately receive a response. The amendment’s fate will depend on whether Schumer can secure Democratic unity and whether any Senate Republicans break ranks when the proposal is offered during NDAA consideration.