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Two House members resigned from office this week due to alleged sexual misconduct involving their staffers — which has generated a lot of conversations on Capitol Hill about how things need to change to make staffers safer and to increase accountability.
Congress doesn’t have a centralized Human Resources department, so those responsibilities are often handled by individual offices. As a result, there isn’t an official reporting process for instances of sexual misconduct.
Combine that with the competitive nature of Capitol Hill and a fear of retaliation, there’s a lot of misconduct that can get brushed under the rug or go unreported. That’s led to the situation where we are at now — and some lawmakers want that to change.
“There is such a punitive culture here in Washington that silences people who have been victims of abuse,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told a group of us this week. “This is why we have to center survivors of abuse, hear them and protect them, and change our institutions so that it doesn’t happen again.”
She added: “There are very concrete changes that we can make right now to the process of coming forward with sexual assault or sexual harassment.”
Of course, those changes would need to be made at the leadership level or at least get their sign-off to become reality. Although nothing has gotten started there yet, top House leaders seem open to the discussion.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., this week said that members need to “act in accordance” with federal laws and principles discouraging any sexual misconduct — especially when it involves one’s staffers.
“If there needs to be reforms, we’ll be looking at that,” Johnson said. “I think the result of these members resigning is right in light of the horrific things they’ve been accused of and that inherently have been proven to be true.”
Other lawmakers have ideas on what those reforms could be.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., huddled with a group of us earlier this week for a long press availability to talk about the allegations — particularly those involving former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who the Arizona Democrat has been close with for years.
Swalwell was one of the lawmakers who stepped down this week as well as former Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas.
“Whether it’s here in the Senate or in the House, there needs to be some other independent organization that is not employed by anybody in our office that gives these staff — and it’s not just women — whistleblower protection, as well as the ability to be able to go outside the kind of internal HR circles,” Gallego said.
Stories Driving the Week
- Online footprint: Nate Blouin, the progressive Democrat candidate running in Utah’s newly redrawn 1st Congressional District, has a history of posting offensive posts on internet forums denigrating The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and making crude jokes about women and sexual assault.
- Justice Lee? Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, who leads the committee responsible for shuffling judiciary nominees through the Senate, named Utah Sen. Mike Lee alongside Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as his top picks if a seat opens up on the high court.
- Mass resignation: Two House members, one Democrat and one Republican, announced on Monday they would retire from their offices before their term is expired after facing allegations of sexual misconduct. The pair faced bipartisan pressure to either step down or face expulsions.
Senate moves forward with funding immigration
The Senate is prepared to move forward with voting on a budget resolution sometime next week, the first step in advancing the Republicans’ spending package to fund immigration enforcement for the next three years.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told a handful of us that the budget resolution is drafted and that senators are working to make sure they are on the same page as the House before they tee it up for a vote.
The framework will include instructions for the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on what to include in the final package, which will be drafted later. But the budget resolution must first be passed by the Senate and the House before they can get started.
It’s not yet clear which day the Senate will move on a vote. But Thune told us it would be “by middle-to-the-end of next week.”
Included in that: a vote-a-rama. (Remember last year when the Senate voted through the night on President Donald Trump’s big beautiful bill? Yeah, we are getting ready to do that all over again.)
That’s because budget reconciliation is subject to unlimited amendments, meaning Democrats have an opportunity to make this as painful as possible.
We don’t know how quickly Republicans will be able to draft and pass the final bill, which will include up to $75 billion for ICE and Border Patrol. But Trump has told them he wants it on his desk by June 1.
That’s a tall order, but remember: Republicans were able to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act by the president’s Fourth of July deadline last summer.
Quick Hits
From the Hill: Mitt Romney says America will be saved by 1 of 3 things. … Democrats want a medical check on Trump’s fitness for office. … Sen. John Curtis denounces ‘blasphemous’ Trump post.
From the White House: Trump administration cuts $11 million in funding to Catholic Charities. … First lady Melania Trump makes rare trip to lobby Congress on foster care reform. …
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, responds to conflict between Trump and Pope Leo.
From the courts: DA declines to file charges against Taylor Frankie Paul. … Unsealed warrants reveal alleged confession letter in Tyler Robinson case. … ‘Deseret Voices’: Everything you know about the U.S. Supreme Court is wrong.