The Epstein Shutdown Showdown
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives returned to Washington following eight weeks of recess. Speaker Johnson swore in Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva after seven weeks of obstruction, and the unprecedented six-week government shutdown came to an end. While there is rancorous debate about whether Democrats should have compromised to end the shutdown, an equally important question remains: Why were House Republicans MIA in the first place? They skipped town eleven days before the shutdown began and refused to engage in negotiations. It now appears that, for at least some Republicans, the extended government shutdown was an effort to shield Donald Trump from being implicated in the Epstein files.
I served in the government during previous shutdowns, during which members of the Senate and House remained in Washington to negotiate a government reopening. This was the only shutdown that I’m aware of where House Republicans were completely absent for a record-setting 42 days. Since late September, as government employees showed up to work without getting paid and members of Congress continued to get paid without showing up to work, there was no concerted effort by the GOP to end the morass. As Rep. Eric Swalwell recently said on a podcast with Democracy Docket founder Marc Elias, “I’ve never seen a shutdown posture like this…We have shut down the government to protect Donald Trump and how close he is to the Epstein Files.” Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also suggested the extended GOP absence was an effort to inoculate Trump from the Epstein files.
Faced with what they believed was no choice, a handful of Senate Democrats eventually compromised to reopen the government without receiving a guaranteed extension of healthcare subsidies. This has led to frustration – which I share – that Democrats caved, especially at a time of strength following last week’s overwhelming election wins. There is no GOP promise of ending skyrocketing healthcare costs for tens of millions of Americans other than a Senate vote next month, and without a guaranteed House vote or GOP support, it appears Democrats bailed out Republicans from the shutdown without extracting a clear win. What this logic fails to take into account is that ending the shutdown also forced Republicans to compromise on something of greater significance to Trump – their efforts to shield him from Epstein.
Speaker Johnson’s refusal to swear in Adelita Grijalva delayed her from becoming the 218th signature on the House discharge petition that forces a vote next week to release the Epstein files. Leading up to Grijalva’s swearing in on Wednesday, the White House scrambled to speak with two Republicans who had already signed the petition, possibly urging them to remove their names. The president huddled with Rep. Lauren Boebert in the Situation Room, where phones aren’t allowed, and tried to reach Rep. Nancy Mace. This came amid newly-released Epstein emails that include Epstein’s own assertion that “of course Trump knew about the girls” and a claim that Trump spent hours with one of the victims at Epstein’s home. More and more, it appears the Epstein files are a political danger for Trump.
Given that Trump is a twice-impeached, 34-time convicted felon found liable for sexual abuse, it’s not hard to imagine his involvement with Epstein. What’s harder to believe is that some Republicans appear to have brought the entire U.S. government to a halt – hurting millions of Americans, including government workers and those who rely on government services – for six weeks because of this issue. They would have extended the government shutdown even longer were it not for Democrats forcing its abrupt end. So while one could argue that Democrats shouldn’t have caved on their healthcare affordability demand, it appears that Republicans also lost.
Next week, there will be a House vote to release the Epstein files, which may reveal information that will further implicate the president. Transparency on this issue is critical, as is the rule of law, despite Trump’s ongoing efforts to obfuscate and obstruct both. Other tactics Trump is using to draw attention away from the scandal are denial and deflection, though it’s unclear whether they are working. For example, did you know that the United States announced a new, expanded military campaign across Central and South America last night? This, despite the fact that most Americans oppose the ongoing extrajudicial killings of dozens of alleged “narco-terrorists.” Might Trump take us to war with Venezuela to deflect from the Epstein controversy? Governor JB Pritzker and others have suggested as much.
Some vocal but misguided members of the Jewish community have urged others to “hold their nose” and support Trump, given what they claim is his strong record on Israel, despite his clear, consistent, and deep character flaws. To Trump sycophants – including the many Republican members of Congress who enable his agenda – I ask: How low can we go when it comes to acceptable behavior of a U.S. president?
The release of the Epstein files may finally be the breaking point that answers this question, ending Republicans’ decade of cognitive dissonance when it comes to Donald Trump. We will see next week, now that the six-week Epstein shutdown showdown has come to an end.