A Republican Congressman has stirred controversy after standing alone in voting against the disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein files, as nearly all of his colleagues in the House voted in favor, with a final tally of 427-1.

Clay Higgins, representing Louisiana, has come under fire on social media platform X, where critics have accused him of “defending pedophiles,” and some have even suggested that he should be subject to investigation.

Higgins, however, has defended his decision, citing his commitment to preserving the principles of the criminal justice system. He expressed concerns that the protections afforded to witnesses could be compromised if the files were made public.

“I have consistently opposed this bill on principle,” Higgins stated on X. “The bill disregards 250 years of established criminal justice procedures in the United States.”

He further argued, “As drafted, this legislation exposes and harms thousands of innocent individuals, including witnesses, people who provided alibis, and family members.”

Higgins cautioned that releasing a vast number of documents to what he described as a “rabid media” would lead to the identification of innocent parties.

Higgins added that if the Senate amends the bill to protect the privacy of the victims and others who are named but not criminally implicated, then he would vote for it.

Soon after posting his reasoning for voting against the bill on X, Higgins received a torrent of backlash online. 

Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), model Melania Knauss, financier Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell at the Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000

Louisiana Republican Congressman Clay Higgins was the only representative to vote against releasing additional Epstein files 

‘Check his hard dive @fbi,’ reacted Patrick Webb, the co-founder of Leading Report.

Another X user, Louisa Clary, wrote: ‘Who are you voting to protect? It isn’t the survivors. They approved the protections already included in the existing Epstein Transparency Act.’

Higgins has voiced support for the active House Oversight Committee investigation, led by Chairman James Comer, into Epstein as an alternative to the Epstein Transparency Act, which the US House of Representatives passed on Tuesday afternoon. 

‘The Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation that has already released well over 60,000 pages of documents from the Epstein case,’ Higgins wrote in his post.

Though his support for the committee’s probe was not enough to shield Higgins from criticism. 

‘The victims themselves have been pleading for the release of those files. Their voices should count the most. Of course the files should be made public. Only then can justice come,’ Akash Maniam wrote on X. 

Another user posted: ‘This is the modern day equivalent of covering up the JFK assassination.’

Though the effort received broad bipartisan support, it was endangered by President Donald Trump, who had repeatedly urged Republicans to vote against the bill. 

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-CA, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-GA, speak during a press conference with survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Donald Trump and Jeffery Epstein chat at a social event in a still from an NBC News video from the early 2000s

He has called the scandal a ‘Democrat hoax’ and suggested repeatedly that liberals have more to lose from the Epstein saga than Republicans. 

But Republican voters were not satisfied with the president’s answers and they urged their GOP representatives to vote on releasing the Justice Department’s trove of Epstein files. 

Now the bill will head to the Senate, where it is expected to be quickly taken up for a vote. 

That could happen on Tuesday evening or Wednesday, sources familiar with the matter revealed to the Daily Mail. 

It is expected to garner widespread bipartisan support and then go to Trump’s desk for his signature. Trump has said he would sign the bill if it passes out of both chambers of Congress.