This House resolution (H. Res. 1430) would bring H.R. 185 to the House floor for immediate consideration and set the rules for debate. It adopts an amendment in the nature of a substitute that would replace H.R. 185 with text titled the "Epstein Files Transparency Act II." The substitute text would change an existing law about access to investigative records related to Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and their network.
Key changes in the substitute text include: state attorneys general, state prosecutors, and victims may sue the U.S. Attorney General or the Department of Justice in federal court to obtain records or challenge withholding, redaction, delay, or removal of records. Courts must try to move such cases quickly. The substitute says DOJ may not use certain federal regulations (often called Touhy rules) to block state access, and it limits the use of common-law privileges (like deliberative process or attorney-client privilege) to withhold records except where the law expressly allows.
The substitute requires the Attorney General to give victims full, unredacted records that identify or relate to them (including FD-302 files), while allowing redaction of other victims' personal information. State or local prosecutors who get records may use, keep, and share them for investigations or court cases, subject to protective orders. Classified records could be made available for review in secure facilities under court-approved procedures. Members of Congress would get full, unredacted access to these records within 7 days of a written request and could get a written justification within 30 days if they allege improper withholding. The substitute also creates criminal penalties for certain DOJ, FBI, or U.S. attorney personnel who conceal, destroy, or falsify records required by the act, referencing existing federal criminal statutes. The resolution also sets floor procedures: waives points of order, limits debate to one hour (shared by the chair and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee), allows one motion to recommit, and requires the Clerk to notify the Senate within one day if the House passes H.R. 185.
If the House adopts this resolution and H.R. 185 (as replaced by the substitute) becomes law, victims identified in the substitute would have a legal right to request and receive unredacted investigative records that relate to them. State attorneys general and other state prosecutors would be able to seek those records from the Department of Justice and could sue if the DOJ withholds or redacts them. Members of Congress would have a fast access route to the same records. The changes would also allow state prosecutors to use those records in investigations and court cases, with protections for other victims' personal information.
No publicly available information on budgetary effects or cost estimates appears in the resolution or the substitute text provided.
No publicly available information on proponents' stated reasons or formal statements appears in the resolution text or the provided metadata.
No publicly available information on opponents' stated reasons or formal statements appears in the resolution text or the provided metadata.