For weeks, Washington was tangled in chaos over the government shutdown — but behind the bluster and finger-pointing, a darker fear was brewing among GOP leadership. Both President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) are now facing what insiders call the real crisis: the long-dreaded Epstein reckoning.
As the government prepares to reopen, all eyes are shifting to a petition that’s quietly tearing through the House — one that would force the Justice Department to release every last file it has on Jeffrey Epstein. The petition sits just a single signature away from success, and with a newly elected Arizona Democrat set to be sworn in this week — someone who’s already pledged to sign — the dam could finally break.
That possibility has Republican leadership rattled. “By all accounts, Trump and his Republican allies have dreaded this moment, but it was inevitable unless some Republicans who support the release backtrack,” said political science professor Costas Panagopoulos, speaking with Newsweek.
The late Epstein, a convicted child sex offender who died in federal custody in 2019, had long-standing ties to some of the most powerful men in America — including Trump, who once called him his “closest friend for 10 years.” The fear among Republican ranks isn’t subtle: if those files are released and the contents are as explosive as many expect, there’s no telling how far the fallout could spread.
“If the files are released and they contain damaging information for the president, the Trump White House may need to be in full-blown crisis mode, but they may not be alone if the files implicate others, including high-profile Democrats,” Panagopoulos continued. “Either way, it appears Americans will not need to wait much longer to find out.”
For Johnson, this is more than a political headache — it’s a test of his control over a restless caucus. The Speaker has already been accused of doing everything possible to keep the Epstein files under wraps. Critics claim he even risked a government shutdown to buy time and block the petition. He’s also floated and later walked back a bizarre claim that Trump had secretly worked as an “FBI informant” against Epstein — a line that raised eyebrows even among his allies.
Johnson has since argued that the push to release the files is “redundant,” pointing to the ongoing House Oversight Committee probe. But few on Capitol Hill are buying that excuse anymore.
“The Speaker has had a pretty firm control over his party on most issues, and the discharge petition will force his hand on the Epstein Files,” said Todd Belt, professor and head of the political management program at George Washington University. “No Speaker likes this to happen, because it means that at least a portion of the Speaker’s party has decided to vote against the Speaker’s wishes. This makes the Speaker weaker overall and could encourage more members to vote against the Speaker’s wishes on other issues, including the forthcoming government spending bills.”
In other words, Johnson’s leadership is about to be tested — not by Democrats, but by his own party. And with Trump’s name hovering over Epstein’s shadow, the GOP’s gamble to stall, distract, and extend a shutdown may have only delayed the inevitable.
The moment they feared is here.
