US Represenative Clay Higgins, Republican of Louisiana Photo: JULIA NIKHINSON
Republican Clay Higgins, the only lawmaker to vote against the bipartisan bill to force the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, defended his opposition, saying the legislation was written in such a way that it might harm innocent people.
"It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America. As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people - witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc," he wrote on X after casting his vote against the bill.
While other Republicans had voiced similar concerns about the measure - including House Speaker Mike Johnson - Higgins' decision to formally vote against it represented a remarkable break from the rest of the House, which passed the measure 427-1.
Senate Republican leader John Thune said soon after that he expects his chamber to take the measure up "fairly quickly" - perhaps even later Tuesday - and Trump has indicated he would sign it into law.
But Higgins, a member of the House Oversight Committee from Louisiana, noted that panel's "thorough" Epstein probe, and indicated he would only support the House-passed bill if it came back with changes from the Senate.
"If the Senate amends the bill to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated, then I will vote for that bill when it comes back to the House," Higgins said.
I have been a principled “NO” on this bill from the beginning. What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America. As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses,…
— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) November 18, 2025
That does not appear likely. While Johnson said that he had spoken with Thune about amending the bill after it passes in the House so that it better protects survivors, Thune indicated that his chamber was unlikely to make changes.
"I think, when a bill comes out of the House 427 to 1, and the president has said he's going to sign it, I'm not sure that amending it is, is in the cards," Thune said.
Higgins told CNN's Manu Raju last week that he planned to vote against the bill even as the tide turned and more Republicans said they would back it.
He told Raju that Trump didn't have a "good relationship" with Epstein and denied the president was trying to kill the bill.
"It's not the White House and the president, it's people that stand for long-standing criminal justice procedures that this bill does not observe. If you support 200 years of criminal justice precedent on how this type of investigation moves forward, then you support what we're doing in the Oversight Committee, not what's being pushed in this petition," he said.
- CNN
