Three U.S. House Lawmakers Resign in April After Ethics Probes

U.S. House lawmakers resigned in April amid allegations of bad behavior, including sexual misconduct and ethics violations.

The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into allegations following those reports. A former congressional staffer stated that no complaint was ever filed during their tenure on Capitol Hill.

A lawmaker also faced similar sexual misconduct allegations surfaced in media reports. Another lawmaker resigned this week, just before the House Ethics Committee was set to meet and recommend punishment after finding multiple ethics violations.

House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest proposed adding additional investigators to the House Ethics Committee to speed up its work. Guest also proposed bringing the Office of Congressional Conduct under the House Ethics Committee's jurisdiction to eliminate duplicative efforts.

Additionally, Guest proposed expanding the committee's jurisdiction to continue investigations after a member resigns or leaves Congress.

Guest said, 'I think we could simplify it. We could streamline the process and by streamlining the process, hopefully see that cases are moved through quicker.' A member of the House Ethics Committee wants the panel to enforce subpoenas by imposing criminal sanctions on non-compliant witnesses.

The member discussed the panel. He said, 'There’s a lot I’d like to do to make the committee move faster and reformed.' Members introduced a bipartisan bill this week to prevent members of Congress from receiving pensions if they commit serious offenses.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday he would lead efforts to reform the current ethics system. He added, 'We have a lot of mechanisms in place but we’re always open to making that safer and more secure.' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Democrats on the House Ethics panel on Thursday, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

A former congressional staffer said, 'It makes me think that people in the House don’t know they have the option to make a complaint about a member. ' A Democratic representative is building a chart of ethics-related offices and their jurisdictions to present to House Democratic leadership.

A Democratic representative introduced a bill to reform and tighten loopholes in 2018 legislation addressing workplace harassment and discrimination on Capitol Hill.

The House Ethics Committee released a statement this week outlining 28 sexual misconduct investigations conducted dating back to the 1970s. There have been six expulsions in the history of the House of Representatives.