WASHINGTON — nancy mace forced a high-stakes floor vote Wednesday, and the House moved to shut down her effort to make public all reports tied to sexual misconduct or harassment allegations involving lawmakers and aides. The vote sent her resolution to committee, a procedural step that effectively ends the push for now. The debate unfolded as the House Ethics Committee warned that broad disclosure could undermine investigations and harm victims and witnesses.
House votes to refer the resolution, effectively killing it
The House voted 357-65 to refer the resolution to committee, a move that stops it from advancing to the outcome sought by nancy mace. The resolution would have directed the House Ethics Committee to make public all reports on allegations of congressional lawmakers and aides engaging in sexual misconduct or harassment.
The Ethics Committee had encouraged members to vote to refer the measure. In a joint statement, the committee’s Republican and Democratic leaders said the resolution “could chill victim cooperation and witness participation in ongoing and future investigations” and could make it harder for the panel “to investigate and eliminate sexual misconduct in the House. ”
Nancy Mace faces bipartisan committee warning on victim and witness impact
Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and ranking member Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., framed their opposition as a balance between accountability and protecting people who come forward. “Here and elsewhere, perpetrators of sexual misconduct should never be shielded from responsibility for their misdeeds, ” they said. At the same time, they warned that “victims may be retraumatized by public disclosures of interim work product, excerpts of interview transcripts, and certain exhibits, ” and that witnesses who speak confidentially could fear retaliation if their cooperation is made public.
On the floor and outside the chamber, the vote put lawmakers on the spot over how to handle allegations inside Congress, and what level of transparency should attach to ethics work that often relies on confidential testimony.
Gonzales allegations and a new Ethics investigation raise the stakes
In explaining why she brought her resolution forward, nancy mace pointed to recent attention on allegations involving Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas. She said her effort followed reporting that Gonzales had sent sexual text messages to a female aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, with whom he allegedly had an affair before she died by suicide last year. Gonzales has previously denied having an affair, and has not addressed the substance of the allegations since the text messages came to light.
Earlier Wednesday, the House Ethics panel said it will open an investigation into the allegations against Gonzales. House rules explicitly prohibit lawmakers from engaging in relationships with their own staff members. Gonzales, in a brief statement, said of the Ethics probe: “I welcome the opportunity to present all the facts to the committee. ”
The scrutiny comes amid Gonzales’ political test back home: in Tuesday night’s primary in Texas, he was forced into a May runoff election against GOP challenger Brandon Herrera.
Quick context and what happens next
Even with a formal investigation underway, an Ethics Committee report is not guaranteed to become public. The committee’s jurisdiction only covers sitting members, meaning an investigation would end if a member resigns, or if a member loses a seat and the report is not yet complete.
After Wednesday’s vote, the immediate next developments center on the Ethics Committee’s investigation and whether lawmakers revisit transparency proposals in a form the committee will accept. For now, nancy mace’s resolution has been sidelined by the House, leaving the question of public disclosure of misconduct and harassment reports unresolved as the Gonzales case moves forward. As of Wednesday (ET), the House has taken the step that effectively kills the current nancy mace effort, while the Ethics Committee proceeds with its own process.
