Senate GOP blocks push for legal action over Epstein law
Source: Roll Call
Posted February 5, 2026 at 4:22pm
Senate Republican leadership blocked a Democrat-backed measure Thursday that would direct the chamber to take legal action over the Justice Department’s much-criticized handling of the Jeffrey Epstein documents. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, on the floor, criticized the Trump administration’s response to the law Congress passed last year that required the release of documents tied to the deceased sex offender.
The New York Democrat said millions of pages of documents that have not been released could contain financial records, letters, emails and the names of conspirators. “These are things the public deserves to see and they are shrouded in darkness,” he said. And, Schumer said, the documents that have been released have often been redacted to an “absurd degree.” “Look at this,” he said, holding up a completely blacked out document. “There are hundreds of pages that look just like this. This is not transparency. This is not what the law requires. This is a mockery of the truth, and an insult to the survivors.”
Schumer sought unanimous consent to pass a resolution that would direct Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to initiate or intervene in civil lawsuits in the name of the Senate to seek “appropriate relief” for the “failure of the Department of Justice to act in a manner consistent” with the Epstein files law.
“If the administration will not follow the law, which it isn’t, the Senate must act. No one — not even the president — is above the law,” Schumer said. He said 15 of his Democratic colleagues were co-sponsors. Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., objected and blocked the effort.
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2026/02/05/senate-gop-blocks-push-for-legal-action-over-epstein-law/
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