Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday filed a cloture motion to force the Senate to vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files to the public.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-N.Y., speaks to press on Wednesday after filing a cloture motion and amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would force a Senate vote on releasing the Epstein files. Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI UPI

Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday filed a cloture motion to force the Senate to vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files to the public.

Schumer, a New York Democrat, filed the cloture motion after submitting an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the files related to the federal investigation and 2019 prosecution of Epstein, which ended when he committed suicide while in a New York City jail.

"I just filed an amendment on the Senate floor to require the attorney general to release the Epstein files," Schumer afterward said in a post on X.

"Republicans will have to vote on it," he said. "We're going to keep fighting until these files are released."

He also addressed reporters following his cloture motion and amendment filing.

"There's been so much lying, obfuscation [and] cover-ups," Schumer told media. "The American people need to see everything that's in the Epstein file."

The Senate would need 60 votes to proceed to a vote on the amendment, which would require support from all 45 Senate Democrats and at least 15 Republican senators.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., called Schumer's move a "political stunt" that the GOP will not support, Politico reported.

Schumer said his motion is identical to those submitted by GOP House member Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and would require the files to be released within 30 days of passage, if approved.

Traditionally, such cloture motions only are made by members of the Senate majority party, CNN reported.

Schumer's move could disrupt negotiations on other amendments being considered for the bipartisan defense bill, despite many Republican senators saying they also want to see the Epstein files released.

Schumer's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding why he did not make a similar move while he was the Senate Majority Leader from 2021 until January.

The Trump administration recently released tens of thousands of pages of the Epstein files to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which made them public.