Speaker Mike Johnson says fear had nothing to do with shutting down the House before a possible Epstein vote, but Democrats accuse him of stalling transparency and protecting Trump.

Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that the House will be starting its summer break one day earlier than planned after legislative action in the chamber ground to a halt as Republican leaders sought to avoid votes on releasing information in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Republican speaker truncated the legislative schedule for the week ahead of a summer recess, moving to deny Democrats the chance to force votes on whether to release the Epstein material.

Mike Johnson shuts Congress for summer to avoid dealing with Trump handling of Epstein files - ‘We're not going to allow them to engage in that charade,’ House Speaker Mike Johnson says of Democrats’

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie criticized Mike Johnson as he shut down the House until September to block votes related to Jeffrey Epstein

Committee Democrats had planned to force a vote on a resolution calling for the public release of Epstein-related documents