The House voted Tuesday to require the public release of records identifying House members who used taxpayer funds to settle sexual misconduct claims, as well as the amounts paid to resolve those cases.
The resolution, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., directs the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to produce the records within 60 days.
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The measure passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 420-0, with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., the only lawmaker voting “present.”
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights oversees workplace misconduct claims involving Congress, including allegations of sexual harassment and other forms of misconduct, Politico reported.
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“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 the officers and employees of this institution with the respect that they deserve,” said Massie on the House floor before imploring members to support his resolution.
Massie lost his primary last month to a Republican backed by President Trump, so he will be leaving Congress in January.
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Massie introduced the resolution after the departures of Reps. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., earlier this year amid separate allegations of serious sexual misconduct.
The cases renewed scrutiny of how the House handles allegations against its own members and intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability.
In response, the House Ethics Committee publicly reaffirmed its commitment to investigating allegations involving lawmakers. However, the panel noted in an April statement that it does not oversee sexual harassment lawsuits or participate in negotiating or approving settlements of those claims.
Earlier this year, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted to subpoena records from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.
According to those records, the federal government paid more than $300,000 to settle claims involving House members or their offices.
Congress ended the practice of using taxpayer funds to pay such settlements on behalf of members in 2018.
Since then, the House Ethics Committee has said it has not been notified of any settlements or awards involving allegations of sexual harassment by a sitting member of Congress.
Speaking after Tuesday’s vote, House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., said he believed much of the information sought by the resolution had already been disclosed.
Nevertheless, he said he supported the measure, adding that he saw “nothing problematic” with requiring the records to be made public.
“Anything we can do to make sure that that information is readily available, we want to make that happen,” Guest said.
🚨 NOW: US House PASSES resolution directing the House Ethics Committee to publicly release records of Congressional members’ monetary settlements involving s*xual misconduct, filed by Rep. Thomas Massie
Vote: 420-0 pic.twitter.com/PQwAvTp1IP
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 30, 2026
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The House previously rejected a separate proposal from Mace that would have required the House Ethics Committee to publicly release information about its investigations into lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct.
At the time, then-Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., and the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., issued a rare joint statement opposing the measure.
They claimed that requiring the disclosure of investigative information could discourage victims from coming forward.
In a video posted Tuesday on X, Mace questioned why the House was voting on Massie’s resolution, arguing that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee had already obtained records related to congressional settlements through a previously approved subpoena.
“I guess it’s just political theater,” she said, per Politico.
Swalwell announced in April he was ending his bid to become California’s next governor and would resign from Congress following multiple credible allegations of sexual misconduct, prompting responses from lawmakers in both parties.
Swalwell, a prominent critic of President Trump, made the announcement in a written statement in which he apologized for what he described as “mistakes in judgment” while disputing some of the more serious claims, including an allegation by a former staff member accusing him of rape.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
