The House of Representatives passed the DOGE spending cuts package overnight. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he’d ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to release “any and all pertinent” grand jury testimony in the case of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Get up to speed here:
• DOGE cuts package: House Republicans gave the final stamp of approval overnight to a package of $9 billion in spending cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, handing a win to Trump.
Congress passed the package — which is part of Trump’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency efforts — under an obscure presidential budget law used to circumvent the Senate filibuster. The measure will now head to the president to be signed into law.
Trump is the first president in roughly 30 years to successfully use the maneuver.
• Holdup over Epstein: Ahead of final passage, however, the package ran into problems in the narrowly divided House, as some of the same members demanded a separate and unrelated promise from GOP leadership calling for more transparency on the Epstein files.
Ultimately, the committee voted Thursday night to advance the DOGE cuts package as well as a non-binding resolution that calls for the release of additional Epstein files following intense talks from a number of Republicans who asked for more transparency surrounding the case. There is nothing that would compel this to the floor, however.
• Wall Street Journal report: A collection of letters gifted to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 included a note bearing Trump’s name and an outline of a naked woman, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The drawing, depicting a woman’s breasts and a “Donald” signature in the place of pubic hair, surrounded several lines of typewritten text, according to the newspaper, which reviewed the letter. It concluded with the line: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump in an interview with the Journal on Tuesday denied that he wrote the letter or drew the picture and threatened to sue the newspaper if it published the story.
• Epstein files: Trump then announced last night on Truth Social that he’s asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce “any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony,” related to Epstein, seeming to bow to pressure to release more material on the case.
Bondi quickly reposted Trump’s comments on X and wrote: “President Trump—we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.” Her department could ask judges to make such material public, but the process could be lengthy as the courts weigh privacy and other concerns.
