As revelations of sexual misconduct continue to ripple through Congress, calls for change are dominating the halls \u2014 so much so that Speaker Mike Johnson said he\u2019d lead the cause himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking at every potential avenue to tighten up the rules and make sure that women have an avenue to report,\u201d Johnson, R-La., said at a press conference Tuesday. \u201cSo if there are ways to tighten the rules, or suggestions, we\u2019re seeking that from all members, we\u2019re open to that \u2026 And I will lead that myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
A report<\/a> released Tuesday from the National Women\u2019s Defense League, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing sexual harassment, found that 30 members of Congress since 2006 specifically have been publicly accused of sexual harassment in the workplace, with at least 53 accusations.<\/p>\n That number jumps when including accusations outside of the workplace and instances that took place prior to serving in Congress \u2014 at least 137 accusations against 49 members of Congress, the report found.<\/p>\n Roughly 97 percent of the members with accusations against them are men, and most target women. Staffers are also the most frequent targets, making up 77 percent of the public allegations collected by NWDL.<\/p>\n \u201cGovernments lack transparent tracking and reporting mechanisms, and actual instances are likely three times higher than what appears in the public record,\u201d said Emma Davidson Tribbs, founding director of NWDL. \u201cWhile we saw a reporting surge during Me Too, the number of reports had begun to decrease.\u201d<\/p>\n The report comes on the heels of a release<\/a> by the Ethics Committee on Monday saying the panel has, since 2017, initiated 20 investigations into matters involving allegations of sexual misconduct by a member. The committee only named 15 of those members in an attached list<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear how and when the committee decides to make such probes public. According to the Ethics Committee\u2019s statement, the panel has \u201cconsistently publicly announced its investigations into publicly reported allegations of sexual misconduct and has announced any findings in those matters.\u201d<\/p>\n The committee typically follows a slow-moving process and loses jurisdiction over members once they leave Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe greatest hurdle the Committee faces in evaluating allegations of sexual misconduct is in convincing the most vulnerable witnesses to share their stories,\u201d the panel said in its statement. \u201cThe Committee has always made public its findings whenever allegations of sexual misconduct were substantiated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Hit people in their pocketbooks\u2019<\/p>\n Johnson offered few details Tuesday on the path forward or ways to \u201ctighten the rules.\u201d But efforts to change how sexual misconduct is addressed on the Hill need to begin at the institutional level, some members say.<\/p>\n One idea being floated is to bar members from receiving pensions if they are expelled or resign as a result of bad behavior. Lawmakers are eligible for pensions if they have completed at least five years of service.<\/p>\n Virginia Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam and Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna on Tuesday announced they were drafting such a pensions-blocking bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the privileges of serving in Congress is that if you serve long enough, you get a pension. The taxpayers should not be paying pensions if you commit a heinous crime while in Congress,\u201d Subramanyam said at a news conference. \u201cWe\u2019ve had too many members committing crimes for having inappropriate sexual relationships with their staff. And whether it\u2019s rape, sexual assault, fraud, bribery, violent felonies, you should not be getting a congressional pension if you commit these crimes right now.\u201d<\/p>\n If ultimately signed into law, the bill would not take effect until the start of the next Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething needs to change, and we need to hit people in their pocketbooks, because that\u2019s the only way they\u2019ll learn, that\u2019s the only way they will change. This problem is bipartisan. It\u2019s happened on both sides of the aisle, so the solution needs to be bipartisan,\u201d Subramanyam said.\u00a0<\/p>\n