The subpoenas come nearly two weeks after one of the panel’s subcommittees voted to compel the Justice Department to release the files, just before the House left for its summer recess. House Speaker Mike Johnson publicly resisted the effort, arguing the Administration needs “room to act” before Congress intervenes.

President Donald Trump has helped Speaker Mike Johnson survive every political storm of his speakership. Now, Johnson is stuck in a crisis of Trump’s own making over Jeffrey Epstein — and there’s no clear way forward without risking the ire of the speaker’s most critical ally.