House Votes to Release Epstein Files, Senate Approves Bill to Be Sent to Trump

2:50 PM PT -- Hours after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to require the Dept. of Justice to release the Epstein Files, the Senate agreed to pass the same bill by unanimous consent -- to move the bill forward with no amendments to the House's version, according to the New York Times. This avoids a recorded vote in the Senate chamber.

Once the bill formally transfers from the House and is received by the Senate, it will automatically go to President Trump's desk. The transfer process generally takes several hours.

Bottom line, the bill could land on President Trump's desk tonight. Trump has said he will sign it.

We're one step closer to finding out who was dealing with Jeffrey Epstein ... the House just approved a bill demanding the Dept. of Justice release the Epstein Files.

The bill was put on the floor Tuesday for a full vote, and it passed by a 427-1 vote.

President Trump has done an about-face on the Epstein Files -- on Friday he said Republicans would be "soft and foolish" to vote for releasing the documents ... but he reversed course by Sunday night and said House Republicans should back the bill.

Republican Louisiana Rep. Clay Higgins was the sole dissenting vote Tuesday, and he tweeted about his decision shortly afterward.

Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie sponsored the bill with California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna ... and Massie has called on Trump to release the files himself. Remember, Trump can immediately order the release of the Epstein Files at any time ... without a House or Senate vote.

Trump's yet to do so ... so the political theater continues and the bill now moves to the Senate. If it passes the Senate, it would end up on Trump's desk. POTUS said Monday he would sign the bill.

As we reported ... Trump's about-face on Epstein comes on the heels of his Friday tantrum on Air Force One, where he attacked reporters for asking him about the notorious sex offender ... even calling one journalist a pig!

Trump says he has nothing to hide and that Democrats were the ones in bed with Epstein ... but Epstein's brother, Mark Epstein, claims Republicans' names are being scrubbed from the files and that's why Trump and the GOP are suddenly on board with a release. 🤷🏽‍♂️