When former Representative Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas, admitted in March to a long-rumored affair with a staff member who later killed herself, a pair of Republican women immediately called for him to be formally censured, and a third became the first in the G.O.P. to demand that he resign.<\/p>\n
The men at the helm of the party, President Trump and top Republican congressional leaders, were still standing by Mr. Gonzales, whose vote they needed to maintain their narrow majority in the House.<\/p>\n
But among the small minority of G.O.P. lawmakers in the House who are women, an outspoken trio on the hard right \u2014 Representatives Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Lauren Boebert of Colorado \u2014 went on the war path and ultimately helped force Mr. Gonzales\u2019s resignation in May under the threat of expulsion.<\/p>\n
It was part of an unlikely campaign by three MAGA women to call out what they say is a culture of rampant sexual harassment and misconduct on Capitol Hill, and to dismantle the unwritten rules of political expediency and tribal loyalty that for decades have helped to keep such behavior under wraps.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis staffer lit herself on fire and killed herself in the worst possible way, and he got a hall pass?\u201d Ms. Mace said on Wednesday during a lengthy group interview with Ms. Boebert and Ms. Luna, who shared a couch across from her, to discuss their efforts. \u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
The three lawmakers, all of whom have notably said they do not believe the allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct against Mr. Trump, added that they were bent on naming and shaming predators in Congress in both parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis place only operates on pressure and pain,\u201d said Ms. Luna, who led the charge to push out Mr. Gonzales. \u201cThe best way to change it is with pressure and pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGroup\u201d is an unusual word for these independent rabble rousers who have proven to be more successful at generating headlines about their own antics than at building alliances. But the women \u2014 who began to refer to themselves during the interview as the \u201cthree musketeers\u201d \u2014 have forged a small caucus that has had an impact in recent months on how men accused of sexual wrongdoing have been treated by Congress.<\/p>\n
Ms. Mace and Ms. Boebert, along with former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, also withstood immense pressure earlier this year from Mr. Trump when they signed on to a petition that forced the release of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not easy having the president come down on you,\u201d Ms. Boebert said.<\/p>\n
Still, they said that they saw nothing wrong with the behavior of the president \u2014 who was found liable of sexual abuse in 2023<\/a> and was caught on tape boasting about pushing himself on women<\/a> \u2014 and dismissed the accusations of sexual misconduct against him.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve only ever gotten grandfather vibes,\u201d Ms. Boebert said of Mr. Trump.<\/p>\n They are far less forgiving of their colleagues on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n All three have demanded the release of documents detailing any sexual harassment settlements reached by members of Congress. On the Oversight Committee, Ms. Mace crossed party lines last summer<\/a> to force an inquiry into the Justice Department\u2019s handling of its investigation into Mr. Epstein. Ms. Mace and Ms. Boebert voted with Democrats earlier this year<\/a> to force a subpoena in that inquiry for Pam Bondi, then the attorney general, to testify.<\/p>\n All three were out front on the charge to expel former Representative Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, after he was accused of sexually assaulting a former staff member, and of misconduct with other women. Ms. Luna, in particular, coordinated with Democrats on how to file separate resolutions to expel Mr. Swalwell and Mr. Gonzales.<\/p>\n Under pressure, Mr. Swalwell, who denies the charges, chose to resign instead.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would have been expelled, so they\u2019d rather leave on their own terms and resign, absolutely,\u201d Ms. Boebert said.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the women shared a hard-boiled view of how Congress operates, and what it may take to change a work environment where sexual harassment has long been accepted as an unfortunate but unchangeable reality.<\/p>\n Ms. Luna said the recent resignations of two members of Congress had created the first moment of reckoning since the #MeToo movement, which spurred changes in 2018 to the way Congress handled sexual harassment claims. She added that they needed to capitalize on it.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you make an example of people, others are less inclined to behave that way,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s why this goes in cycles. This is another cycle, and I think people will be on good behavior until it slides again.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Mace added: \u201cThere are still members that need to be expelled. We want them scared.\u201d<\/p>\n Next on their list: Representative Cory Mills, Republican of Florida. They said that they did not yet have the votes needed to force him out.<\/p>\n Mr. Mills was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington last year in connection with a report of an assault on a woman<\/a>. His former girlfriend was issued a protective order against him<\/a> after accusing him of threatening her with revenge porn following their breakup. He has also been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, and has vehemently denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Ms. Mace said she was in discussions with Speaker Mike Johnson about kicking Mr. Mills off committees until he is expelled or resigns, or until the ethics panel finishes its investigation. (A spokesman for Mr. Johnson said the speaker was waiting on the ethics committee to finish its work before taking any punitive action.)<\/p>\n The women said they were happy to be the instigators on an issue that hits home for them. But they also questioned why they had to be the ones to call for predators to leave their positions of power.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real question is: Why aren\u2019t people who have been here the longest taking the lead on this issue?\u201d Ms. Luna said. \u201cThe answer is: They want to stay. They don\u2019t want to make waves. They hide behind the institution\u2019s process, but the institution\u2019s process is corrupt.\u201d<\/p>\n Representative Cory Mills, Republican of Florida, is under investigation by a House ethics panel.Credit…Haiyun Jiang\/The New York Times<\/p>\n Ms. Luna was referring to the ethics committee, which is often the first stop for any investigation of harassment claims against lawmakers. But the panel operates in deep secrecy and often takes years to complete its work. In a rare statement last month, it defended its handling of sexual harassment charges but also cited challenges<\/a> \u2014 primarily a reluctance among victims to come forward \u2014 that had slowed its work.<\/p>\n In April, Ms. Boebert positioned herself as a resource for staff members who were being mistreated by their bosses or co-workers.<\/p>\n \u201cCome to my office,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you want to remain anonymous, remain anonymous. Let one of us loudmouths get it out there for you.\u201d<\/p>\n But she said no one had taken her up on the offer.<\/p>\n \u201cI think people are still afraid,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re afraid to speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n It is hard to imagine any Democratic aide feeling comfortable approaching Ms. Boebert \u2014 who has accused Democrats, at various times, of inciting violence, hating Christmas and \u201cgrooming\u201d children \u2014 with any sensitive personal story.<\/p>\n She is also an incongruous messenger for a call to clean up Congress\u2019s act. She was caught on a security camera in 2023 vaping and groping her date<\/a> shortly before being ejected from a performance of the musical \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d<\/a> in a Denver theater.It was an embarrassing chapter that she rode out, apologizing to her constituents and then ultimately embracing the saga with dry humor when she realized she could not shake it. (She even hung up a Beetlejuice poster with her face on it.)<\/p>\n Her two compatriots also have established reputations as troublemakers, and sometimes bullies.<\/p>\n Ms. Mace has publicly tormented Representative Sarah McBride, Democrat of Delaware and the first openly transgender member of Congress, since Ms. McBride took office last year, waging a campaign to bar her from women\u2019s restrooms in the Capitol complex.<\/p>\n Ms. Luna is regarded by many Democrats as a less-than-reliable broker on a host of issues they have tried to work with her on. Most recently, she leveled unsubstantiated and unspecific accusations of sexual harassment against Senator Ruben Gallego, the Arizona Democrat who is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate and was a close friend of Mr. Swalwell\u2019s.<\/p>\n Ms. Luna said she had turned over materials related to his conduct to the Senate Ethics Committee. In response, Mr. Gallego, who has denied wrongdoing, proactively contacted the committee to meet with its staff.<\/p>\n Mr. Gallego\u2019s spokesman has dismissed Ms. Luna\u2019s efforts as \u201cright-wing conspiracy theories being parroted by a fringe, far-right member of Congress.\u201d Ms. Luna insisted that there are real issues.<\/p>\n Despite the nasty words from Mr. Gallego, the three G.O.P. lawmakers have gained a sliver of respect from some Democrats.<\/p>\n \u201cNancy Mace and Lauren Boebert showed extraordinary courage on Epstein, and Anna Paulina Luna has been a strong voice for Epstein survivors,\u201d said Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California. \u201cThey also deserve credit for demanding the release of Congress\u2019s sexual harassment settlements, which I support, and holding members on both sides who have engaged in predatory behavior accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of their interest in the issue is clearly shaped by their own experiences as women working in a male-dominated field.<\/p>\n Ms. Mace, who was raped as a teenager, said that when she served in South Carolina\u2019s state legislature, a male colleague \u201cpulled me onto his lap in the chamber. I had another spank me with a magazine on the butt. Here, I\u2019ve been hit on by my married colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Luna said she had to fire her general counsel once because of comments he had made about her to other members of her staff.<\/p>\n Ms. Boebert said she had no professional \u201chorror stories\u201d to share, but she appeared to harbor deep resentment about the blowup of her own marriage in 2023 \u2014 and about how women in politics were expected to credit their spouses with their own success.<\/p>\n \u201cMy best friend was a little skank and she ruined my marriage,\u201d Ms. Boebert said, recounting how she discovered the betrayal on the morning of her first general election. \u201cAnd then you have to go onstage and say, \u2018Oh, I couldn\u2019t do it without my husband.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Boebert suggested one potential upgrade to the culture on Capitol Hill that allows men to behave badly with women: Marriage counselors should be available on demand for lawmakers, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are prayer groups,\u201d Ms. Luna offered.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where the men say they\u2019re going, and they\u2019re actually going to have an affair,\u201d Ms. Boebert scoffed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a ton of affairs,\u201d Ms. Luna conceded.<\/p>\n Sitting together in Ms. Mace\u2019s office, it was not clear if the women could exactly be described as close friends. Ms. Luna, 36, who has a toddler son, and Ms. Boebert, 39, who has a toddler grandson, have bonded over those children, and have campaigned together. Ms. Mace, 48, who is running for governor in South Carolina<\/a>, appears to do less socializing outside of work with the other two. But it was clear that they had gained a certain level of comfort and trust with each other on an issue for which their experiences and worldview have them aligned.<\/p>\n