Mike Collins on the Epstein Files: The 211-210 Vote, the Tabled Resolution, and the Discharge Petition
Mike Collins was one of the 211 House members who voted on July 15, 2025 to order the previous question on a rule, a 211 to 210 vote that kept Democrats from bringing up a measure to force the Justice Department to publish the Epstein files, according to Axios and the House Republican Cloakroom. A single yes vote switching to no would have defeated the motion.
On September 3, 2025, the Georgia congressman voted for a rule, adopted 212 to 208, that laid on the table House Resolution 598, the resolution providing for the release of Epstein investigation records described in House Report 119-209.
Collins did not sign the discharge petition that forced the eventual vote; the clerk's record lists 218 signers, including four Republicans, one of them Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. When the files came out in 2026, survivors criticized the release as insufficient and full of redaction errors, ABC News reported.
Mike Collins's Votes and Actions on the Epstein Files
- Collins Cast One of the 211 Votes That Blocked an Epstein Files Vote in July 2025. On July 15, 2025, Mike Collins voted yes on ordering the previous question on H.Res. 580, which passed 211 to 210 with no Republican opposed, per the Republican Cloakroom. Democrats said defeating it would have let them bring up Rep. Ro Khanna's measure requiring the DOJ to publish the files within 30 days, Axios reported.
- Collins Voted to Table the Epstein Release Resolution in September 2025. On September 3, 2025, Collins voted for H.Res. 672, adopted 212 to 208, whose Section 10 states "House Resolution 598 is laid on the table" (text). H.Res. 598 would have adopted H.Res. 589, providing for the public release of documents related to the Epstein investigation, per House Report 119-209.
- Collins Did Not Sign the Epstein Discharge Petition. Collins was not among the signers of Discharge Petition 2025090209, which lists 218 signers, including four Republicans: Thomas Massie, Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The House passed the bill 427 to 1 only after President Trump reversed course and said Republicans should vote for it on November 16, 2025, NPR reported.
What the Delay on the Epstein Files Meant for Survivors
- Survivors said the eventual release was insufficient and exposed names. After the Justice Department released more than 3 million pages, survivors and lawmakers criticized the disclosure as insufficient and filled with redaction errors, and lawyers said some survivors' names were included, ABC News reported on February 1, 2026.
- Victims' lawyers asked judges to take down the DOJ files website. Lawyers for Epstein victims asked two federal judges to order the immediate takedown of the Justice Department's Epstein files website over widespread failures to redact victims' names, writing that "The harm is ongoing and irreversible," ABC News reported on February 1, 2026.
- Months passed between the July vote and the law. The July 2025 vote Collins joined came four months before the House passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November, after Massie and Khanna forced the vote to the floor over leadership's objections, NBC News reported.
Frequently Asked Questions Mike Collins on Epstein Files
What is Mike Collins's record on the Epstein files under Trump?
Mike Collins voted yes on the 211 to 210 procedural vote of July 15, 2025 that kept a measure to release the Epstein files off the floor, and on September 3, 2025 voted for a rule that tabled a resolution to release Epstein records. He did not sign the discharge petition that Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene signed.
Did Mike Collins sign the Epstein discharge petition?
No. Mike Collins was not one of the four Republicans, Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, whose names appear among the 218 signers in the clerk's petition record.
Did Mike Collins vote to release the Epstein files before Trump changed his position?
Mike Collins voted for the procedural motions that blocked or tabled release measures on July 15, 2025 and September 3, 2025. President Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files on November 16, 2025, NPR reported, and the House passed the release bill two days later.
Last updated: 2026-10-28