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Both houses of Congress agreed overwhelmingly Nov. 18 to release all unclassified records related to the federal government's investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the late disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker linked to high-profile individuals, including President Donald Trump.

By a vote of 427-1, the House of Representatives passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill that requires the federal government to release Epstein documents.

The Senate followed suit about three hours later when Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a motion for unanimous consent. That allowed the Senate to pass the bill without a formal roll-call vote after it was received from the House. That was approved without objection, and the bill was sent to Trump for his signature..

Who voted against releasing the Epstein files?

One Republican, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, voted against the House measure. Three Democrats and two Republicans did not vote.

Higgins posted on X why he was against the bill: "If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt."

Why did Trump initially oppose the bill?

Trump, who earlier resisted releasing the files, indicated on Nov. 17 that he'd sign the legislation if it passed both chambers of Congress. The president has denied he knew of Epstein's alleged abuses.

The House vote came after months of pressure from many Americans, including supporters of Donald Trump, Democrats, and even some Republicans to release the Epstein files.

The bill is one of the first major defections from Trump's wishes by congressional Republicans since the president began his second term in office. After initially opposing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, introduced by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky and Ro Khanna, D-California, Trump urged House GOP lawmakers over the weekend to support the bill.

The bill passed overwhelmingly despite GOP concerns over protecting the privacy of victims, USA TODAY reported.

House Speaker Mike Johnson was among the Republicans to vote for the bill. He said his support would hinge on whether or not the Senate amends it to better protect victims' information being made public.

CONTRIBUTING Zachary Schermele, Sarah D. Wire, Francesca Chambers, Erin Mansfield and Melina Khan, USA TODAY

SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; house.gov

This is developing story which will be updated.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: See how the House and Senate voted on releasing Epstein files

Reporting by George Petras and Ramon Padilla, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect