AMNA NAWAZ: The U.S. House of Representatives is headed for August recess after Speaker Mike Johnson cut House business short amid the political furor related to Jeffrey Epstein.

House Democrats, meanwhile, have spent this week introducing amendments for a full House vote on whether the federal government should be forced to release documents related to the Epstein investigation.

To discuss that political battle and House Republicans' priorities, we're joined now by Republican Congressman Mike Haridopolos of Florida.

Congressman, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thanks for being here.

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS (R-FL): Great to be here.

I'm honored.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, at this point in time, six months into the Trump administration, the second Trump administration, the president has passed a major budget bill, he had great NATO meetings overseas, the successful Iranian strikes.

I know Jeffrey Epstein is not what he wants to be talking about, and yet many in his base, many in the party want more information and want him to make good on the pledge to release that information.

Should he do that?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: I think so.

I think that's the progress we're making towards today.

I think the quicker the better.

We, of course, want to make that the innocent, their names redacted, who are not involved in this mess.

But we have heard about it for years.

I wish the Biden administration had done something to last four years when they held onto these files.

But, that said, I think that transparency is the ultimate disinfectant.

It's the reason why I created what's called the LEDGER Act, where every dollar should be online.

Let's put everything out in the sunshine and let the cards fall as they may.

I think that's the best way to restore trust in government.

AMNA NAWAZ: So why do you think there's been this hesitation we have seen so far?

The attorney general basically saying, I have the files on my desk, they're coming out, and then saying we're not going to be releasing them.

That's what's fueling this frustration amongst them in your base.

What's behind that?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Well, I think that's a fair assessment.

I think people are frustrated.

They waited a long time.

They thought it would come out.

I think we're in the last throes of it.

Our speaker, Speaker Johnson, wants the same.

He wants it out, transparent.

I think once we get back from the August recess, which is already planned -- this is not something that people didn't expect.

But I think, hopefully... AMNA NAWAZ: It was moved up a bit, to be fair.

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Yes, by a day.

But we got our agenda through, as you know.

But, that said, I think in September, we should expect to see all of this.

Again, let's keep the innocent out of it.

Let's redact some names who are not players in this.

But people who have been abusing kids potentially, they need to be exposed.

This is a horrific act that supposedly happened on these islands.

And I think the more transparency we have, the better.

And, candidly, let's be honest.

If there was something really bad about President Trump and this thing, I think the government would have used it, or I should say the Biden administration would have used it long ago.

They tried to literally put him in prison many times.

If they had something really bad, I think they would have released it.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you're saying, by September, we should be seeing the release of those files.. REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: I think that's our expectation.

AMNA NAWAZ: Even if they involve President Trump's name related to those files?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Look, we have to let the cards fall as they may.

And my belief is, based on what we understand, if there was something really bad about the president, the Biden administration would have used it against him.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, six months in, as I noted, I need to put to you where the rest of the country is looking at the president right now.

The latest Gallup polling shows President Trump's disapproval rating has dipped to its lowest of the term so far.

It's 37 percent.

It's just above what you would call his all-time worst rating of 34 percent at the end of his first term.

And that rating, Congressman, has fallen 10 points since the beginning of this administration.

What do you think is behind that?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Well, I think this is the lack of information for this reason.

You started our show today very strongly.

We passed the big budget bill.

We actually kept our promises to cut taxes on tips and overtime, let alone Social Security for people who have worked for a lifetime.

We had a major strike against our longtime enemy, that being Iran, the enemy,a thorn on our side since 1979.

The stock market is at record highs.

We don't have the inflation that people thought would happen with the tariffs.

And there's a lot of good news out there.

I can't wait to get back in the district and talk about our success over the last six months.

We made a set of promises, and we kept those promises in the Big Beautiful Bill.

That's not a common thing in history, let alone in politics.

I'm a former history professor myself.

Isn't it nice and refreshing to have elected officials say, this is what we're going to do in Washington, and that's exactly what we did?

When people actually see that line by line in the big bill, I think they're going to like it a lot.

AMNA NAWAZ: A 10-point drop, though, since the beginning of this administration 10 months ago.

You attribute that to people not getting the right messaging?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Well, I contribute it just welcome to politics.

Now, if there was an election tomorrow, I would be really nervous, but it's not going to be.

When we go back, and a year from now, when I can say, guess what, we didn't cut Medicaid for the most vulnerable, guess what, we did give a tax cut to the people who needed it most after four years of higher prices, guess what, we actually turned the tide against Iran for the first time since 1979, this is the luxury we have, the facts on our side.

It was so disappointing to see the other side saying, we're going to cut Medicaid for the disabled.

That's an outright lie.

You can go to page 630 of the bill, and it shows specifically that most vulnerable will be untouched by these Medicaid changes, only the people who either refuse to work or are illegal aliens.

AMNA NAWAZ: As you know, a lot of the concern around Medicaid cuts was also around people who may not be able to meet some of the work requirement paperwork requirements.

And we can have that longer discussion at another time, because I know those won't go into place until after the midterms... REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: That's correct.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... those cuts as well.

But on the signature budget bill, you haven't really won people over yet.

And I wonder if that's a messaging problem or something else, because when you look at the numbers, over half of all Americans believe that it hurts the middle class more than it helps them.

So there's skepticism there, right?

And there's concern not enough is being done.

People are worried prices aren't coming down.

Are you worried that you will lose many in your Republican base if they don't start to see changes in their lives that they voted for, for the economy in particular?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Look, that's a fair question.

And that's what we have to answer over the next 18 months before the next election.

And I think what we like to say is pretty simple.

These cuts in taxes will actually be retroactive.

So when you earn those tips in overtime and let alone tips and Social Security, you're going to get that money, you're going to feel it in a positive way.

AMNA NAWAZ: And yet they think it's going to hurt the middle class.

Why is that?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Again, and that's -- again, I think that's our problem, because we're not marketing it well enough.

That's why we need to get back to the district and educate folks that, remember, if we did nothing, you would see on average a 23 percent tax hike, if we did nothing, because you go back to the old higher Obama tax rate.

So we need to do a better job of -- quote -- "marketing" or politics, whatever you want to call it.

But we believe in this.

We really believe we invest in the middle class.

That's when you cut taxes on tips and overtime and Social Security.

People are going to save, invest and spend.

And we think the economy's going to grow.

AMNA NAWAZ: Can I just ask you?

We're six months into this second Trump administration.

You're six months into your first term in Congress.

And you came here to be part of this legislature.

It's worth pointing out, almost every major accomplishment we have seen from Republicans so far, though, has been either pushed by executive action or has been something the president has asked for and Republican lawmakers have then seen through, including ceding some of your own constitutional power, the power of the purse.

Is this what you envisioned it would be, your time in Congress?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Well, I would say this.

When we were in a lot of crisis in the Great Depression, FDR changed the dynamic.

And he said, we have this agenda.

The American public has changed dramatically.

The Republican Party is known as the blue-collar party now for the first time in my lifetime, and we really focused the new tax cuts on the middle class.

I felt like the president had a mandate.

It's a new Republican Party.

He was really focused on the middle class, who were hurt by higher grocery prices and gas prices.

And I really felt like it was -- we're going to do the kind of the old 100 days of FDR.

We took six months.

Welcome to modern America.

But it's been an agenda that we believe in, and we think we are going to really show the results when we have low unemployment rates, we have low inflation rates.

And we're also telling countries around the world, you treat us as an equal.

The reason why the tariffs, I think, are having some positive effect with the revenues coming in, because prices aren't going up, because America is a number one market in the world.

And for too long, they were charging us higher tax rates than we were charging them.

Treat us fairly, and we think we can compete quite fine.

AMNA NAWAZ: I guess the question is, would you be OK if Democratic lawmakers did the same with a Democratic president?

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: Of course not.

Welcome to partisanship.

I'm with you.

It's modern politics, because, unfortunately, I want to see more of the bipartisan operations.

I work with a lot of Democrats in issues like cryptocurrency.

We just passed a major piece of legislation that they couldn't get done in years past.

I'm a big tent guy, and the more we can work together with Democrats, America's better off.

But I believe in tax relief, and I think we really provided that, and, more importantly, backed up our campaign promises, which is not a common thing in Washington, D.C. AMNA NAWAZ: Appreciate your candor, at the very least.

Republican Congressman from Florida Mike Haridopolos, thank you for being here.

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS: My pleasure.

Thank you.