House Republicans will scrap several floor votes this week as internal party drama over the release of Jeffrey Epstein files derailed the work of the Rules Committee.
The panel came to a standstill Monday night as GOP leaders struggled to contain rank-and-file Republicans and their Democratic allies clamoring for a floor vote to compel the publication of materials related to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
Committee Democrats had planned to force a vote that evening on legislation that would call for the release of the materials, as the panel worked to tee up floor consideration on a slate of unrelated legislation. It was poised to be a repeat of what transpired last Thursday inside Rules.
But rather than this time work through the Democratic disruption, Republicans chose instead Monday to recess the rest of the Rules meeting altogether, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) saying it was “unlikely” that the panel would reconvene this week at all.
