WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in the House of Representatives are expected to vote Thursday on whether to force the Ethics Commission to release its report on an extensive, yearslong investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
In the afternoon, the bipartisan Ethics Panel plans to meet privately for a second time to discuss whether to make public the report regarding allegations that Gaetz engaged in illegal drug use and sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old birthday girl, the House probe and other claims.
Gaetz has denied the allegations, which contributed to some Senate Republicans saying behind closed doors that they would not vote to confirm him as newly elected President Donald Trump’s attorney general.
Before Thanksgiving, on Nov. 20, the 10-member panel deadlocked over the release of the report into Gaetz, who Trump announced as his pick for attorney general on Nov. 13, the same day Gaetz resigned from Congress. But Gaetz dropped his bid to lead the Justice Department on Nov. 21 — a move that Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., said “should end the discussion” about releasing the report.
Guest declined to answer questions about the matter on Wednesday.
The Ethics Panel will meet again on Thursday. If the panel cannot reach an agreement, the full House is expected to vote on the issue tonight, with all lawmakers notified. Two Democrats — Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois and Steve Cohen of Tennessee — offered resolutions Tuesday targeting the Gaetz report.
Casten’s resolution would direct the committee to make its report public, while Cohen’s resolution would force the committee to preserve and release the records of its assessment of Gaetz. Because the resolutions are “privileged,” they must be voted on within two legislative days.
The vote is expected to be largely along party lines. Democrats are pushing for the report’s release, with Gaetz openly flirting with a bid for Florida governor in 2026 or being mentioned for another possible role in Trump’s White House, one that may not need to pass the Senate are confirmed.
But no Republicans have said they want to make the report public, arguing that the Ethics Commission only has jurisdiction over sitting members of Congress — not ex-members. Despite their razor-thin majority, Republicans are expected to succeed in ‘submitting’ or destroying the Casten and Cohen resolutions.
House Democrats tried to do the same in September 1996, urging the Ethics Commission to release an outside counsel’s report on its investigation of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. But the House rejected the resolution in a floor vote.
This time, Democrats are pushing back against the Republican Party’s argument that the Ethics Panel cannot publish a report on a member who recently resigned. Casten’s resolution cites several examples in which the Ethics Panel has released reports on former lawmakers.
For example, on Oct. 5, 1987, Rep. Bill Boner, D-Tenn., resigned to become mayor of Nashville. The Ethics Commission released an initial staff report the following December investigating allegations that Boner had misused campaign funds, failed to disclose gifts and accepted bribes.
And in 2006, after Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned over revelations that he sent explicit electronic messages to at least one former congressional page for teens, the Ethics Panel released its report on the case.
“Whereas, given the serious nature of the allegations against Representative Gaetz,” the Casten resolution states, “the failure of the House Ethics Committee to publicly release its report on its investigation undermines the credibility of the Committee undermines the security, dignity, and integrity of the legislative work of the House.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
