Washington – House Republicans on Thursday blocked two Democratic resolutions that would have forced the House Ethics Committee to release a potentially damaging report on its investigation into former lawmaker Matt Gaetz, voting to reinstate the case refer to the committee.
Democratic Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois and Steve Cohen of Tennessee have introduced two privileged resolutions, forcing action on the floor within two legislative days. By a vote of 206 to 198, all but one Republican voted to refer Casten’s resolution back to the Ethics Committee. Cohen’s resolution suffered the same fate: 204 to 198 votes, with one Republican voting with the Democrats. Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California was the only member to cross party lines.
In a statement, Casten accused his Republican colleagues of voting “to sweep these allegations under the rug and set an unfortunate precedent.” He said he would continue to push for the report’s publication.
The votes came after President-elect Donald Trump announced last month that he planned to nominate Gaetz as attorney general, prompting intense scrutiny of the Republican’s background in Florida and the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into allegations that Gaetz had engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. Gaetz, who has denied the allegations, ignored for the attorney general nomination, just over a week after Trump made the announcement.
Gaetz immediately resigned from Congress after Trump announced he wanted the Florida Republican to join his Cabinet. The timing of his resignation came days before the House of Representatives was set to vote on releasing its report on Gaetz.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, the committee urged to keep the report secret, arguing that a former member falls outside the panel’s jurisdiction and that this would set a “terrible precedent.”
“I believe it is very important to maintain the tradition of the House of Representatives not to issue ethics reports on people who are no longer members of Congress,” he said on November 15. important rule.”
Casten’s resolution cites four cases in which the Ethics Commission released reports on its investigations into members after they resigned.
The bipartisan committee met on November 20 to consider whether to make the report publicbut was evenly divided along party lines on how to proceed. A day later, Gaetz withdrew from consideration and faced a difficult path to Senate confirmation. There was growing interest from senators on both sides of the aisle to see the report before a confirmation vote.
The House of Representatives Ethics Committee met again Thursday to discuss its investigation into the allegations against Gaetz. In a statement, the panel said it “continues to discuss the matter.” The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, who wanted the report made public, did not attend the meeting.
