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‘Controlled files for 4 years’: Trump asks why Democrats didn’t act on Epstein
Donald Trump questioned why Democrats didn’t act on Epstein-related evidence despite controlling key files for four years.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned why Democrats did not act on alleged evidence linking him to Jeffrey Epstein, claiming they had access to key files for years but “had nothing.”
“If there was a ‘smoking gun’ on Epstein, why didn’t the Dems, who controlled the ‘files’ for four years, and had Garland and Comey in charge, use it? BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The US House of Representatives gave final approval early Friday to President Donald Trump’s request to claw back around $9 billion in funding, targeting public broadcasting and foreign aid programmes.
The move comes as Republicans ramp up efforts to trim spending on institutions and initiatives they deem bloated or misaligned with their agenda.
The vote marked the first time in decades that a president has successfully submitted a rescissions request to Congress. The White House indicated more such efforts could follow. While some Republicans were uneasy about the cuts, they backed the measure, reluctant to oppose Trump or derail his agenda.
The House passed the bill narrowly by a vote of 216–213. It now heads to the President’s desk for signature.
“We need to get back to fiscal sanity, and this is an important step,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
Senate passes Trump’s cuts without Democrats
No Democrats voted in favour of the measure when it passed the Senate 51–48 in the early hours of Thursday. Final passage in the House was delayed for several hours as Republicans debated their stance amid a Democratic push for a vote on the release of Jeffrey Epstein files.
The package eliminates roughly $1.1 billion allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and nearly $8 billion from various foreign aid programmes, many aimed at assisting countries grappling with drought, disease, and political instability.
This effort to trim a small portion of federal expenditure comes just weeks after Republicans pushed through Trump’s tax and spending cut legislation without a single Democratic vote.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the tax and spending package would add around $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
“No one is buying the notion that Republicans are actually trying to improve wasteful spending,” said Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
With agencies inputs
