Trump and Johnson are likely doomed in their attempts to thwart an Epstein files vote

"The White House has been privately pressuring Republican lawmakers not to sign onto the discharge petition, according to Massie and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has also publicly opposed the discharge petition, which would undermine his control of the floor. State of play: The discharge petition stands at 216 signatures, with 211 Democrats and four Republicans - Massie, Greene and Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Nancy Mace (R.S.C.) - signed on."

"It needs 218 signatures to force a vote on the House floor. Several right-wing Republicans who have publicly championed the Epstein issue, including Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), have said they won't sign, casting the petition as a personal fight between Massie and Trump."

"Zoom in: From here, it all comes down to voters in the heavily Democratic electorates of Fairfax, Va., and Tucson, Ariz. Virginia's 11th congressional district will vote next Tuesday on a successor to deceased Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). Democrat James Walkinshaw is expected to win easily in a seat that voted for former Vice President Harris by 34 points. Likewise for Democrat Adelita Grijalva, who is running to replace her father, the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), in the Sept. 23 special election in Arizona's 7th district. The seat went for Harris by 22 points last year. Spokespeople for Walkinshaw and Grijalva told Axios they plan to sign the Epstein discharge petition if elected to Congress."

White House officials have privately pressured Republican lawmakers not to sign a discharge petition, and House Speaker Mike Johnson has publicly opposed it. The petition currently has 216 signatures: 211 Democrats and four Republicans (Massie, Greene, Boebert, Mace). The petition needs 218 signatures to force a vote on the House floor. Several conservative Republicans who have raised the Epstein issue have declined to sign. Two likely Democratic winners in upcoming special elections in Virginia's 11th and Arizona's 7th have pledged to sign if elected, which would bring the total to 218. The White House or the speaker could still try to block the effort through pressure or procedural tactics.

Read at Axios