In November 2025, after 11 months, Van Orden finally voted to release the Epstein files, but only after Donald Trump gave House Republicans permission to do so. Van Orden said he wanted “every bit of evidence concerning Epstein” to be released, but then criticized people for making the release of the files a priority. In July, Van Orden had cast the deciding vote against releasing the Epstein files, protecting the accused pedophiles named within them. Van Orden also never signed the discharge petition that called for their release and he never co-sponsored Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna’s resolution calling for their release. He also claimed the letter Trump sent Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday was fake.