Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday that he would not hold a House vote this summer on whether the Justice Department should release files related to the accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, retreating from his demand last week that the material must come out.
Reacting to intense pressure from the angry MAGA base, Mr. Johnson had on Tuesday showed a rare glimpse of daylight between himself and Mr. Trump, who was imploring his supporters to move on from the matter.
“We should put everything out there and let the people decide,” Mr. Johnson had said on “The Benny Show” when asked about the Justice Department’s investigation into Mr. Epstein. “I agree with the sentiment that we need to — we need to put it out there.”
The Rules Committee, a powerful panel controlled by the speaker, had even approved a measure that would bring to the floor a resolution calling for the disclosures, though Republicans gave no timetable for voting on it.
Less than a week later, the speaker reverted to his more familiar posture of deferring to the president.
“We need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing,” Mr. Johnson told reporters at the Capitol on Monday when asked about holding a House vote on releasing the investigative files.
“If further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that,” Mr. Johnson said. But he added that there would be no vote on the Epstein files before the House departs on Thursday for a six-week summer break, saying, “I don’t think we’re at that point yet, because we agree with the president.”
Mr. Johnson was able to obtain his gavel and has been able to keep it because of his unshakable loyalty to Mr. Trump. His initial call for the release of the Epstein files when Mr. Trump wa
