WASHINGTON — Minnesota’s Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who agree on very little, agreed to vote for legislation that requires the Justice Department to release all information on its investigation into sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein — with some exceptions.
But that near-unanimous vote could have never been held without the success of a parliamentary procedure that usually fails to bear fruit and has emboldened minority Democrats to try to seek similar wins on other legislation blocked by the House GOP majority.
The full “Epstein files” may never be made public since the legislation contains several loopholes allowing the Justice Department to withhold certain information, including information that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution.”
Last week, President Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to launch a federal investigation related to Epstein aimed at his ties to several prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, megadonor Reid Hoffman and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
Still, the legislation’s success is an example of how the White House and congressional Republican leaders can be outmaneuvered.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed with overwhelming support in both chambers, was a rare example of a successful “discharge petition.” Requiring the signatures of a majority in the U.S. House, a discharge petition can wrench a bill out of committee and to the chamber’s floor for consideration – over the objections of the Speaker of the House.
Before this week, no discharge petition had been voted on in recent history, as none had received the required number of signatures to be considered by the House. Since 2002, 74 discharge petitions had been introduced, but all failed to gather the needed support.
But this time persistence paid off. Democrats were able to secure the support of enough Republicans to make the discharge petition a success. None of Minnesota’s lawmakers signed the petition, but four of their GOP House colleagues did, giving Democrats the 218 signatures they needed.
Democrats immediately tried the gambit again.
On Thursday, legislation to restore union rights for hundreds of thousands of federal workers that was opposed by Speaker Mike Johnson is headed to the House floor after a bipartisan group of lawmakers this week quietly secured the required majority of 218 votes on a discharge petition.
Move by Democrats ‘Punishable by death!’
President Donald Trump’s attacks on a group of Democratic lawmakers inflamed Democratic leaders who on Thursday condemned the attacks and arranged for extra security for the lawmakers.
Trump on Thursday threatened six Democrats, all veterans or former intelligence officers, with sedition and said that such behavior is “punishable by DEATH!”
The reason Trump went off on the lawmakers, all of them moderates?
They made a short video urging members of the military to resist orders that are unlawful and cautioned that “threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad, but from right here at home.”
“Our laws are clear,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. “You can refuse illegal orders.”
Rep. Chris Deluzio, who like Kelly served in the Navy, said, “You must refuse illegal orders.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Reps. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Jason Crow, D-Col., also appeared on the video.
Slotkin told The New York Times earlier this week that she’d been hearing from active-duty troops concerned about the legality of strikes that targeted people accused of drug-smuggling by the Trump administration.
The lawmakers’ video prompted Trump to call the lawmakers “traitors” in a series of social media posts.
“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” Trump wrote in one post. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore. An example must be set!!”
In another post, Trump noted that “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR” is
“punishable by DEATH!”
And the president shared another post that said “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD!!”
Minnesota state Sen. Erin Maye Quade, a DFLer, on Thursday slammed Trump for his posts.
“A Trump supporter started murdering his way through an assassination list of Democratic lawmakers FIVE MONTHS AGO,” Quade wrote in a post on Bluesky. “He murdered my colleague Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark — and attempted to assassinate my dear friend John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. I was also on the hit list. WTF.”
Democratic leaders in Washington were also incensed about the posts.
“When Donald Trump uses the language of execution and treason, some of his supporters may very well listen. He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters.
The president has usually attacked progressives, not moderates whose message for the military have sparked his latest volleys. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, has been repeatedly called a dangerous “terrorist” by Trump. Omar has said those attacks have incited violence, including death threats, against her.
On Thursday, Omar said “the president’s behavior is deeply disturbing.”
“It should go without saying that a sitting president should not call for the execution of those who disagree with him,” Omar said. “Political violence is already at an all-time high.”
Like Quade, Omar cited the assassination of Hortman and her husband and the attempted assassination Hoffman and his wife as victims of a surge in political violence.
She also said that “we as Americans cannot accept (Trump’s) unhinged behavior as normal.”
A promotion for Ellison
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a progressive Democrat who has been involved in dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration, was promoted to co-chair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA) this week.
Ellison will lead the group alongside Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, “uplifting the work of Democratic attorneys general across the country,” a statement from DAGA said.
“Since Trump’s inauguration in January, we have been the first line of defense in holding President Trump and his administration accountable for his violations against the U.S. Constitution and protecting the rule of law,” Ellison and Raoul said in a joint statement. “There is a lot of work that lies ahead in 2026 and beyond to elect more Democratic AGs to ensure Americans’ rights and freedoms are protected.”
Related from MinnPost Festival: How the Democrats lost America with The New York Times’ Tyler Pager
In other news:
▪️Greater Minnesota reporter Brian Arola visited Appleton, where the likelihood of a long-shuttered prison’s reopening as an ICE center has brought both hope of an economic recovery and consternation.
▪️Matthew Blake wrote about the platform gubernatorial candidate state Rep. Kristin Roberts has been given to attack the Walz administration as the new chair of the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention Committee. DFLers call the creation of the panel a “political stunt.”
▪️Congress finally approved a bill that would force the Justice Department to release information about its investigation into sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. But those looking for a set of the complete “Epstein files” are likely to be disappointed.
▪️The bill that reopened the federal government contained millions of dollars for local projects in Minnesota. But local governments and the state’s nonprofits may not get much more help as Congress’ appropriations process is broken – which also means that another shutdown looms.
▪️ New state government reporter Cleo Krejci covered a hearing at the state Capitol on the impact of federal grant cuts on colleges and universities in Minnesota. Representatives of six colleges and universities testified.
This and that
A reader responded to a story about the Trump administration’s threat to states, like Minnesota, that released full food stamp benefits during the shutdown.
“Trump wants to deny poor American children while he gorges himself on Big Macs and all the free food he could ever eat?” the reader wrote. “In fact, when at his resorts I am sure he charges the federal government for all the food he and his entourage eats, with a healthy profit. Do his supporters hate poor people enough they find this acceptable?”
Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.
The post D.C. Memo: Rare success of ‘discharge petition’ emboldens Democrats in battles against Trump appeared first on MinnPost.
Want more insights? Join Grow With Caliber - our career elevating newsletter and get our take on the future of work delivered weekly.
