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The House is leaving Washington a day early for it's five-week August recess after tensions erupted over efforts to force release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Why it matters: Fallout from the debate over the Epstein files has effectively frozen House business.

The Department of Justice’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation continued to roil Washington on Tuesday, as the department pivoted—reaching out to jailed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell—and the House of Representatives was dismissed early for its summer recess.

The turmoil in Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein probe isn't going away anytime soon after the House Speaker ended the legislative session early before the August break.

President Donald Trump sought Tuesday to distract from the growing furor over his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal by pushing extraordinary claims that Barack Obama tried to mount a coup.

Trump on Tuesday said “I don’t follow it too much” when asked by reporters about the backlash to his administration’s handling of the Epstein investigatory documents.

There’s no pretending otherwise: disgraced and deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein has hijacked Washington.

La., arrives for an early morning strategy session with the Republican Conference, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is rebuffing pressure to act on the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein,