November 14, 2025
Veto proof majority.
It’s a phrase you should get to know – especially when the house votes on that discharge petition to force the release of the Epstein files next week. And it becomes especially important when the President of the United States puts out messages like he did today — railing against any republican who votes to release the Epstein files — calling them weak soft and foolish. More on that in a second. And yes – I’m going to be doing some math in this video…stand by for that.
Here’s what’s happening. Speaker Mike Johnson has said that he is fast tracking the vote on that discharge petition to release the Epstein files. According to the House rules — he could technically drag it out and delay the vote until early December but he said he’s not going to do that and instead he is putting it on the floor of the house for a vote early next week. Now – it’s important for you to understand he’s *not* doing this because he wants to – it’s happening because all of the democrats and four republicans came together and put their names on a discharge petition which forces Johnson to put the bill on the floor for a vote. Speaker Johnson has been very clear that he does not want to do that – he has said this discharge petition is unnecessary because he believes the House oversight committee is already doing enough work on the Epstein files. So now – that the House is back in session – the discharge petition reached the magic 218 signatures so Johnson has no choice….it’s happening. Ok..that’s the back story.
Now – let’s talk about the reality of whether this bill attached to the discharge petition can pass. The short answer is absolutely. Yes it can. And it’s going to pass the house of representatives. The question is by how much. Of course we expect all the 218 lawmakers who signed the discharge petition to vote yes – but right now – we don’t know how many more house republicans are also going to vote yes. According to their own public comments – it could be a lot.
Then of course – after it passes the House – it must go to the Senate. And what happens there is completely unclear at this point. There are several options. The bill could go up for a vote as is. Or Senate majority leader John Thune can decide not to put the bill up for a vote at all and it dies. Or the senate can alter the bill and either pass it or not pass it. But — if a bill that forces the release of the Epstein files does come up in the Senate it will need at least 60 votes to pass.
And now – let’s talk about the veto proof majority. As you know the founding fathers set up a system of checks and balances. Congress can pass a bill– but the constitution gives the president the power to veto that bill. That check was put in place to make sure that congress didn’t go rogue or get too powerful. Based on how president trump and the white house have been treating this effort to release the Epstein files – including this post from the president today – it is definitely a possibility that if an Epstein related bill does pass the House and the senate – Trump may actually veto it. Now – if he did that – it would be a political bombshell. The ramifications would be unreal especially since he literally campaigned hard on releasing the Epstein files – but that’s something we could talk about in another video… for now I want to focus on how that can all be avoided.
And that is the veto-proof majority. Yes – the president can check congress with his veto pen – but congress can also check the president. There is a system in which congress can override a president’s veto. Basically they can go around the president and pass a law without him. It is extremely difficult to do and that’s why it doesn’t happen very often. But the way it happens is – the bill would pass in both the House and the Senate. Then it would go to the president and he would veto it. Then the bill would go back to the House and the Senate and they would attempt to override the veto. In order to do that – two-thirds of those who are present and voting in both the house and the senate would need to vote yes. Then the bill would become law without the president’s signature or approval.
So – is there enough support in the House and the Senate to get to a veto proof majority? To the math. Right now there are 433 sitting members of the House of representatives. There are 219 Republicans and 214 Democrats. Two seats are vacant. So if all 433 members are present and voting – a two thirds majority would be 289. Well we know 214 Democrats will be a yes. And we know 4 Republicans will be a yes. Leaving 215. So if we subtract 218 from 289 we get 71. Will 71 more Republicans go on record to support the release of the Epstein files and go against the leader of their party President Trump? It’s possible…but that’s a big number.
And even if they get there – we also need to get a two thirds majority of those present and voting in the Senate. As you know there are 100 Senators. 53 of them are Republicans and 47 are Democrats and Independents. In order to get a vetoproof majority you would need 67 yes votes. The most logical way there would be to get all 47 Democrats and Independents to say yes and then try and swing 20 Republicans. I’m going to be very honest with you — it is very unclear if that can happen. But hey – anything is possible when their constituents put pressure on them.
