Today, Mike Johnson said he would support the vote to release the full trove of justice department files on Jeffrey Epstein.

“I’m going to vote to move this forward. I think it could be close to a unanimous vote, because everybody here, all the Republicans, want to go on record to show your maximum transparency,” he said. “I sincerely hope my Democrat colleagues will show the same level of urgency and enthusiasm when it comes to tackling the real issues facing we got to get to.”

However, one of Mike Johnson’s frequent criticisms of the discharge petition is that, he says, it fails to protect victims and redact child abuse materials. The House speaker added he spoke to the Senate’s leader, John Thune, and he’s “very confident” that the upper chamber “will take the time methodically to do what we have not been allowed to do in the House, to amend this discharge position, and to make sure these protections are there.”

Earlier, Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican co-leading the discharge petition to compel a vote on the House floor, said this is a “red herring”, and “survivors have always been in favor of this legislation”. Massie said that Johnson is “trying to save face after opposing this [petition]”.

An amendment in the Senate would mean the bill pinballs back to the House, delaying its possible passage.