Washington DC - House Speaker Mike Johnson has revealed he will not be forcing a vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files before Congress' summer break, despite having called for "transparency" less than a week ago.

According to the New York Times, Johnson told reporters on Monday that there would be no vote on the files before the House departs on Thursday for a six-week summer break.

"We need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing," Johnson explained. "If further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we'll look at that.

"I don't think we're at that point yet, because we agree with the president," he added.

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In recent weeks, President Donald Trump's administration has been facing heavy backlash for failing to deliver on his campaign promise to release the elusive files.

Trump has urged lawmakers and supporters to move on from the issue, but to no avail.

When asked about the controversy in an interview last Tuesday, Johnson – a staunch Trump loyalist – surprisingly said "everything" should be released to resolve the issue and urged Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has been overseeing the case, to "explain" what she meant when she said in Ferbuary that the files were "sitting on her desk" for review.

A number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pushed efforts to force the release of the files, but Republicans en masse have voted against them in order to appease Trump.