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The move is part of an effort by Democrats to draw Senate Republicans into the debate over the release of the Epstein files, which has bitterly divided the House G.O.P. and wrought havoc in that chamber.
July 30, 2025, 5:02 a.m. ET
Senate Democrats on Wednesday moved to compel the Trump administration to release material connected to the investigation into the accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, invoking a little-known law in a bid to force Republican leaders to confront the growing furor over the case.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and all seven Democrats on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee sent a letter to the Justice Department requesting that it turn over its files on Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Under a section of federal law commonly referred to in the Senate as the “rule of five,” government agencies are required to provide relevant information if any five members of that committee, which is the chamber’s chief oversight panel, request it.
That provision — which became law in 1928 and sets a seven-member rule for the House’s oversight committee — effectively offers a way for members of the minority party to compel information from the executive branch because they cannot issue congressional subpoenas. But it has been infrequently used, and it has not faced significant tests in court, raising questions over whether it can be enforced.
Still, in invoking it, Democrats were trying to draw Senate Republicans into the debate over the release of the Epstein files, which has bitterly divided the House G.O.P. and wrought havoc in that chamber. If the Trump administration were to ignore the Democrats’ request, the resulting legal battle would likely force Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and the majority leader, to decide whether to choose between backing the administration or defending the Senate’s constitutional prerogative for congressional oversight.
Since President Trump returned to the White House this year, Congress has ceded much of its oversight power, with Republicans showing little willingness to hold hearings or otherwise demand answers from Mr. Trump or his administration. But the Justice Department’s recent decision to backtrack from its promises to release new material in the Epstein investigation ripped open a rift in the party that led several rank-and-file Republicans to break from the president.
