Democrats get mid-decade redistricting wins, but roadblocks and high stakes remain: ANALYSIS

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday cast the Jeffrey Epstein controversy as “irrelevant” amid an effort on Capitol Hill to force a vote to release all files related to the deceased sex offender.

“This is a Democrat hoax that never ends,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the push for more transparency in the Epstein matter.

“From what I understand, I could check, but from what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given,” the president said. “But it’s really a Democrat hoax because they’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president.”

The comments came as a group of survivors joined House members in a push to compel the Justice Department to release records so far withheld from Congress.

ABC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Jay O’Brien asked the victims for their reaction to Trump’s characterization that it is a “hoax.”

One survivor, Haley Robson, said it felt like “being gutted from the inside out.”

“Mr. President Donald J. Trump, I am a registered Republican — not that that matters because this is not political — however, I cordially invite you to meet me in the Capitol in person so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma,” she responded.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna’s effort to force a vote on the files has led to a showdown with House Republican leadership and the White House.

Massie’s discharge petition had 206 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon. It needs 218 to compel a vote on the House floor.

So far, four Republicans have signed on to the Massie and Khanna discharge petition — a procedural tool to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote. Those signers include Massie, Reps. Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. If all 212 Democrats sign the petition, only two more Republicans are needed.

Speaker Mike Johnson urged Republicans to not support Massie’s discharge petition during a closed conference meeting Wednesday morning, according to multiple sources. Johnson instead argued the ongoing investigation by the House Oversight Committee is the better path forward.

The House on Wednesday adopted a resolution by a vote of 212-208-1 that instructs the Oversight Committee to continue its Epstein investigation that began weeks ago.

The measure was Johnson’s preferred vote on the Epstein controversy. Massie has called it a “placebo.”

Johnson said he spoke to Trump about the Epstein files on Tuesday night, and Trump instructed him to “get it out there” and “put it all out there.”

“This is going to be an ongoing effort. It will be bipartisan, which is great and the Oversight Committee’s effort, this is really important to point out, goes further than the discharge petition,” Johnson argued. “It requests more information than the discharge even encompasses. For example, the Epstein estate documents, which is a treasure trove of information not referenced in the discharge. And it has the force of law because we have subpoena authorities.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Thursday failed to advance Sen. Ron Johnson’s bill that would have provided pay to some federal workers during the shutdown.

The “Shutdown Fairness Act” — put forward by Johnson — failed by a vote of 55-45. It would have needed 60 votes to advance.

Democratic Sens. John Fetterman, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock voted with all Republicans to advance the bill. All other Democrats voted against it, effectively blocking it from advancing.

While the bill would not have ended the shutdown, it would allow some federal employees to get paid.

Johnson’s bill would have provided appropriations to pay the troops and “excepted employees” of federal agencies being affected by the shutdown. That includes employees determined by the Office of Personnel Management to be performing emergency work, or for contractors who provide support to those employees.

Democrats were reluctant to provide votes out of concerns that Johnson’s bill gives the administration and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought too broad of authority to determine which employees would get paid and which wouldn’t.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen offered an alternative bill to Johnson’s that would pay all federal employees. Johnson blocked that proposal — along with another similar option from Democrats. Democrats attempted to pass both of these bills unanimously, so Johnson’s objection alone was enough to block them.

Johnson noted that the proposals Democrats offered are “95%” similar. But he noted that the Democrat proposal is different because it only lasts through this fiscal year, includes furloughed employees and limits reduction in force.  

The reduction in force issue was a challenge for Johnson, but he said he was open to negotiation on it.

“I don’t think we should limit the chief executive’s ability to properly manage the federal government and make the tough decision sometimes to reduce the workforce,” Johnson said. “That’s something we can talk about.”

Johnson said he blocked the bills in part because he wants Democrats to allow for debate on his legislation so a solution can actually be reached. The best way to work toward a solution for federal employees, Johnson said, was to begin debate on a bill rather than trying to pass one unanimously as Democrats did.

Federal employees, he said, need that.

“To see that they get their paycheck, so they don’t have to work Door Dash, so they don’t have to go to food banks, so they’re not under that stress — I am asking in good faith, let’s figure out how to get that done,” Johnson said.

The vote on the bill came as federal workers will miss their first full paycheck on Friday.

The legislation put Democrats in an interesting spot, as Republicans work to brand votes against this bill as votes against paying federal workers.

Van Hollen attacked Johnson’s bill, saying it would “essentially weaponize the government shutdown to allow President Trump to decide who works and gets paid and who doesn’t work and doesn’t get paid.”

“Our belief is that no federal employee, no one should bear the burden or be punished for a shutdown they have nothing to do with. So our view is that we want to make sure everybody gets paid at the end of the day.”

When pressed on why he would not, therefore, support the clean bill Republican’s have put forward 11 times, Van Hollen said it’s important to both pay Americans and protect health care.

“Of course we want to open the government. That’s the best way to address this issue. We also need to address these other big issues,” Van Hollen said.

No vote is expected for Thursday on the clean short-term funding bill. With senators leaving town for the weekend, the shutdown will drag on to Monday.

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(WASHINGTON) — Tuesday’s special election for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District will likely narrow Republicans’ slim majority in the House and deliver the decisive vote on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The heavily blue district will vote to replace the late Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who served 22 years in Congress before passing away at 77 in March from complications with cancer treatments.

His daughter, former Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, is favored to win against Republican Daniel Butierez, who lost to the elder Grijalva last year by nearly 27 percentage points.

Tuesday’s election will likely deliver the decisive signature to allow a vote on compelling the Department of Justice to release all records related to Jeffrey Epstein. The bipartisan discharge petition was put forth by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna.

After Democrat Rep. James Walkinshaw won his special election in Virginia earlier this month, the newly sworn-in congressman brought the discharge petition to 217 signatures, inching it closer to the required 218 needed to force a vote on the matter.

Both Grijalva and Butierez told the Arizona Daily Star last week that they would sign the petition if elected.

This election also has broader implications in the overall makeup of the House of Representatives. House Republicans currently have a narrow majority with 219 seats, while the Democrats hold 213.

Some Republican states are also following President Donald Trump’s call to pick up seats by redrawing their congressional maps to produce more GOP-friendly districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Grijalva seeks to continue her father’s legacy of environmental justice and public education, in addition to focusing on protecting Medicaid.

“I’m not running on my last name, it just is my last name,” she told ABC News ahead of the Democratic primary earlier this year. “So my dad left really big shoes to fill, but I stand on my own two feet in my more than two decades of public service to Arizona, and I’m proud to be supported by leaders and organizations that are leading the progressive movement.”

She was challenged in the crowded Democratic primary by 25-year-old progressive activist Deja Foxx, who would have been the first Gen-Z woman in Congress. Grijalva defeated Foxx by over 40 points. Butierez won the Republican primary with nearly 61% of the vote over two other candidates.

Butierez is a business owner who is focused on curbing illegal immigration and drug flow into the region. Speaking to KGUN about how he was once homeless, imprisoned, and addicted to drugs, Butierez believes these experiences allow him to understand his community’s needs and utilize a firsthand perspective to address these issues.

ABC News’ Lauren Peller, John Parkinson, Brittany Shepherd, and Rachael Dziaba contributed to this report.

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