The United States Congress has passed a bill to compel the US Department of Justice to release all its records related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

US President Donald Trump, who initially opposed the measure, reversed his position on the weekend and encouraged Republicans to vote in favour of it, once it became clear the bill had the numbers to pass.

Now that it's sailed through both the House and the Senate in a single Washington afternoon, it could soon be on his desk for the final sign-off.

Here is how we got here, and what could happen next.

How did the 'Epstein files' bill go through Congress so quickly?

The vote on the measure was called after several Republicans sided with Democrats to sign a "discharge petition", a rarely-used way to force a vote in the

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