The flip-flopping from Donald Trump on the issue of releasing Jeffrey Epstein’s files had him “fall in line” with the GOP.
The president ultimately supported the move to force the Department of Justice to release non-classified files related to Epstein following pressure from members of the Republican party and the Democrats. Trump’s decision to support the bill, rather than oppose it and the many GOP representatives calling for its release, was a “long time coming,” according to CNN‘s Zachary B. Wolf.
Wolf wrote, “President Donald Trump was confronted by his fellow Republicans. And he fell in line. The flip-flop was a long time coming. The House of Representatives stayed out of session for more than a month during the government shutdown, which helped to shield Trump from this vote.”
The House would ultimately vote 427-1 to release the files, something Trump had seemingly managed to delay during the government shutdown, Wolf suggested. Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican who has represented the 4th district since 2012, said there was a clear choice when it came to the vote.
He said, “The deal for Republicans on this vote is that Trump will protect you if you vote the wrong way. In other words, if you vote to cover up for pedophiles, you’ve got cover in a Republican primary. But I would remind my colleagues that this vote is gonna be on your record for longer than Trump is gonna be president.”
Legislative change could bring about a “crash into reality” for the GOP, who may find their “deep divisions” further entrenched in the weeks to come.
Calen Razor of Politico wrote, “Deep divisions remain among Republicans over how to address spiking health care costs — and whether they should jam through a potential solution with a party-line vote in the Senate. And, of course, Democrats have little interest in helping them out.”
“The publication also suggested that the Republicans would ‘crash into the reality of the congressional GOP.’” It comes as Senator Lisa Murkowski called on legislation, not reconciliation, to be the lead point of the administration in the coming months.
She said, “I don’t want another one-sided, partisan reconciliation bill right now — I want us to legislate. Let’s be legislators here. Reconciliation is, yes, it’s a tool for us, but it’s a partisan tool and look at how divided we are right now. … That’s not the way to go.”
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