A bipartisan effort to force a binding House vote on releasing the “Epstein files” has picked up Republican support, though just how many in the GOP ultimately support the measure won't be seen at least until the lower chamber returns from its August recess.

The bipartisan bill from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is one of two measures related to the Epstein files, which have effectively stymied the entire chamber and prompted Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to send members home early.

It has the 11 Republican and nine Democratic co-sponsors as of Wednesday.

Massie and Khanna have vowed to file a discharge petition to bypass House leadership and force their bill to the floor with 218 signatures. Discharge petitions are rarely successful, and seldom used by members of the majority. But Massie and Khanna's could be successful if all 11 GOP co-sponsors sign on with all Democrats.

It would not be ready for a vote until September due to procedural rules.

The measure would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to make public “in a searchable and downloadable format” all “unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials in the possession” of the Justice Department (DOJ) related to the late sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Massie has led the charge from the GOP side and taken heat from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who on Tuesday said he was baffled about Massie's motivations.

The House will now leave town Thursday, a day earlier than scheduled, for its recess. Democrats have hammered Johnson for avoiding any summer votes on the Epstein bills.

Here are the Republicans who are backing the measure.

Lauren Boebert

Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), a fierce ally of President Trump, was one of the first lawmakers to call for a special counsel to investigate the government's handling of the files.

“People are frustrated. We want to know if there’s more information,” the Colorado lawmaker said on NewsNation last week.

Boebert was among the lawmakers who celebrated the Trump administration’s move in February to reveal what it claimed were the Epstein files — a move that ended up disappointing many observers who hoped for new revelations.

In 2020, while Boebert was running for her first term in Congress, she appeared to indulge a conspiracy theory that Epstein did not die by suicide.

“Is 2020 a set up so we all forget Epstein didn’t kill himself?” she wrote then on X, adding a chin-scratching emoji.

The medical examiner ruled that Epstein, who was in New York City jail........

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