House votes to disclose members' taxpayer-funded misconduct settlements
The House voted nearly unanimously on Tuesday to publicly disclose Ethics Committee records on which congressmen have settled sexual misconduct claims using taxpayer dollars.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced the resolution, which directs the House Committee on Ethics to preserve and release publicly all chamber records related to sexual harassment settlements. The measure passed by a vote of 420-0, with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who had already issued a subpoena for similar chamber records, voting present.
“We need to know what’s been going on here in the House of Representatives in order to convince the people and assure the people that we are conducting the people’s business with the utmost integrity and treating officers and employees of this institution with the respect they deserve,” Massie said.
The vote comes in the wake of several scandals that rocked the lower chamber throughout 2026, including the resignations of both Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX) after they faced sexual assault and sexual misconduct allegations, respectively. Swalwell and Gonzales’s conduct each prompted fierce blowback from their colleagues, with representatives vowing to bring accountability to the chamber.
Massie and Mace have each been at the forefront of advocacy for sexual assault victims in Congress, championing the release of the Epstein files throughout the past several years. Mace said she voted present on Massie’s bill because she had already subpoenaed the House’s records related to sexual harassment payments.
“I subpoena’d this in March and released it in May via the Oversight Committee. It’s already been done,” Mace posted on X after the vote.
Arguing the results of the resolution would not be any different from those of her subpoena, she said the vote was “nothing more than political theater.” The chamber also voted down Mace’s measure to publicly release all House records related to sexual harassment in early March by a vote of 357-65-1.