Speaker Johnson shuts down House to block Epstein files vote

Speaker Johnson shuts down House to block Epstein files vote.

Department of Labor deregulation push could hit wages and make workplaces less safe, critics say.

Republican members of the House of Representatives, many of them loyal members of Trump’s MAGA coalition, have been pressing House and party leadership to allow a vote on a non-binding resolution calling for the release of the Epstein files. Trump’s resistance to total transparency on the late disgraced financier’s associates has continued to arouse frustration from the MAGA base, even as Trump himself has remained scornfully dismissive of calls to release more of the FBI’s files on Epstein. The Wall Street Journal further fanned the flames last week by publishing an exposé on Trump’s close 15-year friendship with Epstein. The Journal piece included a description of a suggestive birthday card that Trump allegedly wrote and gave to Epstein for the latter’s 50th birthday.

Since it does not appear that the controversy is dying down, Republican members of the House are eager to signal to their constituents that they support full transparency on this matter, even if Trump does not. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Oversight is advancing a resolution to subpoena Epstein’s former girlfriend and convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, for a deposition.

Rather than allowing any of these measures to move forward, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has adjourned the House early for August holidays, meaning any potential votes would take place in September at the earliest. While Johnson himself has voiced support for greater transparency on this issue, he told reporters today that he wants to give the White House “space” to release more material on its own. Johnson may also be hoping that a month will be long enough for the furor among the public and media over the matter to die down. Passing this resolution would be seen as a strong rebuke of Trump by his own base.

Members of the House can file what is called a discharge petition to force a bill out of committee for a vote, which can be done over the Speaker’s objection. There is a bipartisan effort to do just that for this resolution, led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). However such discharge petitions take time, and of course nothing can move forward while the House is not in session.

Deputy Attorney General to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell as House panel seeks subpoena.

Roy Black, one of the attorneys who negotiated Epstein’s 2007 non-prosecution agreement, found dead aged 80 following a recent illness.

Department of Labor deregulation push could hit wages and make workplaces less safe, critics say

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer has directed her department to rewrite or repeal more than 60 workplace regulations. The proposed changes could affect sectors that employ millions of people in jobs which are both demanding and dangerous. They would also limit the power of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to punish employers who subject their workers to unsafe working conditions. Among the proposed changes are:

Eliminating minimum wage for home health care workers, Meaning that home health care workers could earn less than the federal minimum wage of $7 25 cents per hour, unless there are state laws covering their wages.
Taking away the power of the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Association to force mine owners to improve on plans for ventilation and structural stability in their mines.
Doing away with regulation requiring adequate lighting on construction sites.
Ending certain protections for migrant farm workers. This includes doing away with a 2024 rule to protect workers from retaliation by their employers when the workers file complains, cooperate with investigations or participate in other legal proceedings against their employers.

While the DOL calls these regulations “obsolete” and claims they are unduly costly and burdensome for employers, labor advocates say that removing protections would make workplaces less safe and make more workers vulnerable to exploitation by their employers.