Two Republicans have signed Massie's new Epstein files petition; he needs four. Will a third sign by Oct 15?

Rep. Thomas Massie's discharge petition for the Epstein Files Transparency Act II picked up a third Republican signature before the October 15 deadline. By October 9, Massie's office said the petition had reached 216 of the 218 signatures needed to force a House floor vote, with Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania among the Republicans who had signed, joining a near-unanimous Democratic caucus.

The bill, which Massie introduced in July 2026, would let state attorneys general, crime victims and members of Congress sue the Justice Department for failing to comply with the original Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed and President Trump signed into law in late 2025. Massie has argued the DOJ continues to withhold millions of pages of files related to Jeffrey Epstein despite that law's release mandate, prompting the follow-up legislation.

The effort mirrors Massie's earlier, successful discharge-petition campaign in 2025, which also relied on a small group of Republican defectors alongside Democrats to reach the 218-signature threshold required to bypass House leadership.

The community correctly anticipated the third GOP signature, with 82% predicting it would arrive by the deadline.