Congress just told the women who work for them exactly where they stand.
Nancy Mace forced a floor vote to expose every sexual misconduct report the House Ethics Committee has buried and 357 of her colleagues killed it.
What they said to defend that vote tells you everything about how Washington really works.
How the House Ethics Committee Buried the Vote
The resolution was simple: make the Ethics Committee release all reports on sexual misconduct allegations against members of Congress and their staff.
Mace built in victim protections – personal identifying information would be redacted.
It wasn't close.
357 members voted to bury it by referring the resolution back to the Ethics Committee – the same Ethics Committee that generated these reports in the first place.
Sending back to committee meant that it would stay buried.
Only 65 members voted yes.
Republican Chairman Michael Guest and Democrat Mark DeSaulnier led the bipartisan burial, releasing a joint statement claiming the vote was about protecting victims.
Mace had already answered that argument before they made it.
She told reporters the resolution included specific directions to redact victims' identities and personal information.
Her words: "I don't give a damn. This has been a hidden secret for a long time."
The Last Time a Congressional Sexual Misconduct Settlement Leaked a Congressman Lost His Career
Congress has seen this movie before.
In November 2017, BuzzFeed reported that Rep. John Conyers – the longest-serving member of the House at the time – had paid a female staffer $27,000 out of his congressional office fund to settle sexual harassment claims against him.
The settlement had been confidential.
Once it leaked, Conyers was gone in two weeks.
Multiple women came forward.
He resigned.
One leaked settlement ended a 52-year congressional career.
The taxpayer-funded settlement system has paid out more than $17 million since 1997 through the Office of Compliance – 264 total cases – and Congress has never disclosed who those settlements involved.
Rep. Alcee Hastings had a $220,000 settlement paid by taxpayers.
Rep. Blake Farenthold had an $84,000 settlement.
Both came out despite the system, not because of it.
As one person familiar with the process told ABC News: "The entire process is designed solely to protect the institution of Congress."
That was true in 2017.
It's still true today.
Tony Gonzales Admitted the Affair and Nancy Mace Asked the Obvious Question
This vote happened because of Tony Gonzales – the Texas Republican who admitted this week to having an affair with staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, a married mother who died last September after setting herself on fire.
Gonzales spent months calling it extortion.
He called the allegations "completely untruthful” and refused to answer questions in the halls of Congress.
Then the texts surfaced – Gonzales asking his staffer for a "sexy pic" after midnight, describing sexual acts in graphic detail, while she pushed back: "This is going too far, boss."
House rules passed in 2018 ban sexual relationships between members and their staff.
The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation.
One day later, Gonzales dropped his reelection bid.
Mace's question was the right one: how many more files look exactly like this one.
Her colleagues answered with their votes.
The House Ethics Committee Said Releasing the Files Would Hurt Victims and Nancy Mace Had an Answer for That
The "retraumatize victims" argument collapses the moment you remember Mace included victim protections in the bill.
The "chill future cooperation" argument collapses the moment you realize decades of confidentiality did nothing to stop misconduct – it just kept it buried.
Conyers resigned because his settlement leaked.
Farenthold didn't seek reelection after his went public.
Gonzales is out after texts surfaced despite the system, not through it.
The secrecy protects one group of people: the members who haven't been caught yet.
357 of them just voted to keep it that way.
Sources:
- José Niño, "House Kills Resolution to Release Lawmaker Sexual Misconduct Reports," Headline USA, March 6, 2026.
- Nick Langworthy, "Congressman Langworthy Votes to Release Names of U.S. House Members Who Used the Sexual Harassment Slush Fund," langworthy.house.gov, March 5, 2026.
- "Scandal-ridden U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales Drops Reelection Bid After Admitting to Affair with Staffer," KSAT Investigates, March 6, 2026.
- "Timeline: Rep. Tony Gonzales' Relationship with Staffer Regina Santos-Aviles," KSAT Investigates, March 6, 2026.
- "Tony Gonzales Admits Affair with Aide Who Died by Suicide," Texas Tribune, March 4, 2026