Congress is expected to reconvene on Wednesday to vote to end the government shutdown that has paralysed public services and sowed chaos across US airports.

But while reopening the federal government will restore the wages of employees like air traffic controllers, it will reignite the Epstein files crisis surrounding Donald Trump.

Before Congress holds a vote on the shutdown, Mike Johnson, the house speaker, is expected to swear in Adelita Grijalva as congresswoman, seven weeks after the Democrat won a special election.

Mr Johnson has delayed swearing in the Arizona Democrat, who would provide a bipartisan group of Representatives with the final signature required to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files.

Ms Grijalva has indicated that she will vote to release all of the documents the government holds on the late paedophile.

Mr Johnson has refused to seat Ms Grijalva during pro forma House sessions, in which Representatives meet briefly during a shutdown, despite swearing two Republicans in during such sessions earlier this year.

On Wednesday, the House will be in session for the first time in more than 50 days.

Democrats and critics have argued that Mr Johnson was trying to avoid what was expected to be a difficult vote for Mr Trump and the party.

The Epstein files have caused a political headache for Mr Trump, who infuriated swathes of his Maga base earlier this year when he reversed course on his promise to release the documents.

Mr Trump was among the rich and powerful who associated with Epstein. Department of Justice (DoJ) officials reviewed the files earlier this year and found Mr Trump’s name multiple times, senior officials previously told the Wall Street Journal.

Pam Bondi, the attorney general, reportedly told Mr Trump during a routine White House briefing in May that he and a number of other high-profile individuals were named in the documents.

Being named in documents related to the case does not imply wrongdoing and Mr Trump and Epstein were known to be friends before falling out in the early 2000s over a real estate deal.

Mr Trump denies any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.

Mr Johnson could technically delay or block the vote but has said if the petition “hits 218, it comes to the floor”.

The vote does not mean the files will be released – if it passes in Congress the legislation would still need to make it through the Senate and Mr Trump would need to sign it.

David Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron, said: “I think politically, it’s bad because there are a number of House Republicans that are going to vote in favour of releasing those files.”

Mr Johnson’s decision to delay swearing in Ms Grijalva was a mechanism to avoid “putting the Epstein files back in the headlines”, Mr Cohen claimed.

Christopher Galdieri, professor of politics at Saint Anselm, agreed that how Republicans vote on the issue could shape their careers.

“There are a lot of Republicans who are quietly trying to position themselves for 2028 or trying to save their own necks in the 2026 midterms, so I think the aftermath will tell us something about where the Republican Party is going as it inches towards a post-Trump future,” he said.

However, some Republican signatories could buckle under top-down pressure and choose to vote against releasing the files once it goes to the floor.

“To vote for this is a pretty serious break with Trump, especially given some of the rumours that are flying around about damaging material and photographs and that sort of thing in these files”, Mr Galdieri said.

“This could be the end of some people’s careers in Republican politics, Trump has had a fair amount of success in threatening people with primary challenges and that sort of thing and scaring them out of running for re-election”, he added.