What’s in the batch of Epstein files just released by a House committee

Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

Congress is back in Washington tonight, and the clock is already ticking. Lawmakers have less than one month to avoid a government shutdown.

Geoff Bennett:

On the table, a fierce fight over billions in spending cuts, some 30,000 pages worth of Jeffrey Epstein-related files that Republicans just posted tonight online, and the Senate moving to fast-track President Trump's nominees.

Our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, joins us now.

So, Lisa, it's always great to see you.

Let's start with the possible government shutdown at the end of the month. We are weeks away. How likely is it?

Lisa Desjardins:

It is possible.

Let's take people through exactly how this is going to work, what we know. First of all, the deadline is September 30 to fund most of government. Now, any deal needs 60 Senate votes. So, of course, that means likely at least seven Democrats would have to get on board.

Now, that's led to this situation where, of course, Democrats know they have leverage here. They don't have leverage in a lot of cases. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries today told reporters, including myself, that he's looking for a bipartisan solution. But what that really means is, he wants some concessions.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY):

That spending bill has to be both bipartisan, a product of negotiation, and it's got to serve the interests of the American people in terms of their health, safety, national security, and economic well-being.

Lisa Desjardins:

Health, safety, national security, economic, that covers everything. So, there's a lot on the table for him.

And this is the man really to watch, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. It's his vote that Republicans will need to get a funding bill through, or it could be his decision to try to go all the way to a government shutdown. It is very much on the table, a risky decision for Democrats either way.

The pressure is on them to stand up to President Trump, try and get some policy changes. But some Democrats say a shutdown might benefit Trump.

Geoff Bennett:

And why are they feeling the pressure this week, Lisa?

Lisa Desjardins:

Right.

It seems like the 30th is a long way away. It's not. One reason is because, in the middle of the month, there will be a recess, a full week. So really it's just about two or three weeks they have. And, remember, they're only in town three days a week mostly.

Geoff Bennett:

Let's talk about the other big news tonight.

The House Oversight Committee released tens of thousands of pages of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. There had been Republicans calling for more transparency, and this appears to be a step in that direction?

Lisa Desjardins:

Right.

And a reminder, we're talking about Jeffrey Epstein. He's the financier accused of sex crimes. His conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, was sent to prison for those crimes. He also was connected with many high-profile individuals, friends with Donald Trump, though Trump has disavowed him since.

Here's what we got tonight, documents like this, 33,000-plus pages of them. But I want to point out, this document, our producer Matt Loffman quickly figured out, is public. This is not something that is special to the Department of Justice. This is something you could find on the Supreme Court's Web site. This is Ghislaine Maxwell's — part of her appeal case.

So a lot of this are legal documents. Going through them, we really don't know how much of it is new. But I am told from House Oversight Republicans that these are all the documents that DOJ has given them so far.

Democrats have said, first of all, that these 34,000 documents is just 1 percent of the total. Now, Republicans are worried about something else going on. That's a bipartisan effort by two — two Republican — two members of Congress, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna there on the right and then Thomas Massie of Kentucky. They are trying to make an end run around House leadership to force release of all documents, make them all public.

But the question is if the votes are there. And, today, Speaker Johnson made it clear he doesn't want that effort. And I think this release tonight is an attempt to try and take votes away from that end run, so a lot in play. Do we know that much more about Jeffrey Epstein tonight? Not yet. We will see.

Geoff Bennett:

Yes. Well, more to come on that front.

Meantime, there is a battle brewing in the Senate over President Trump's nominations? Tell us about that.

Lisa Desjardins:

Right.

This is something important to watch. And it's not just about Senate process. It's really about how our government works. First of all, Trump's nominees have — most of them have not been able to be confirmed by voice vote. What does that mean? Well, it means an easy ride for the 1,300-plus, some of these nominees who are not controversial.

Democrats have stopped that process. They have been stalling it because they do oppose so much of Trump's policies. But now Senate Republicans are saying perhaps it's time to change the rules. Now, when you change the rules in the Senate, as you know from being up there, it is a very big deal. It's called going nuclear, and it changes sort of how the power structure works, not just in the Senate, but in Washington.

So we're watching very closely. I do think Senate Republicans are going to go nuclear. It's a question of how they do it and what it means down the road for democracy.

Geoff Bennett:

Lisa Desjardins, our thanks to you, as always. We appreciate it.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.