New Delhi, Nov. 16 -- A fresh congressional push to force additional disclosures from the Jeffrey Epstein files has cleared a key procedural hurdle, with a House petition reaching the 218 signatures needed to move legislation toward a floor vote. The effort follows a Republican-led oversight report criticizing the Justice Department for missed disclosure deadlines and failures to protect survivors' personal information.

Representative John Garamendi, a California Democrat, supplied the decisive signature on November 11 for a petition led by Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie, according to Roll Call's account of the congressional effort. The development advances a proposal for further disclosure; it does not mean a new law has passed or th...