Washington — House Republicans on Thursday blocked two Democratic proposals that would have forced the House Ethics Committee to release a potentially damaging report on the investigation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, voting to send the matter back to the committee. .
Democratic Representatives Sean Casten of Illinois and Steve Cohen of Tennessee introduced double privilege motions, forcing action in the House within two legislative days. In a vote of 206 to 198, all but one Republican voted to send Casten's proposal back to the Ethics Committee. Cohen's proposal met the same fate in a vote of 204 to 198, with one Republican voting with the Democrat. Republican Representative Tom McClintock of California was the only member to cross party lines.
In a statement, Casten accused her Republican colleagues of voting “to suppress these allegations and setting an unfortunate precedent.” He said he would continue efforts to release the report.
President-elect Donald Trump announced last month that he intended to nominate Gaetz for attorney general, following intense scrutiny of the Florida Republican's background and a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug dealing. Involved in the use of drugs. Gaetz, who has denied the allegations, out of consideration A little more than a week after Trump's announcement for attorney general nomination.
After Trump announced he wanted to add the Florida Republican to his Cabinet, Gaetz immediately resigned from Congress. The timing of his resignation came just days before a House panel was to vote on whether to release its report on Gaetz.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, urged the committee to keep the report secret, arguing that a former member was beyond the panel's jurisdiction and that it would set a “terrible precedent.”
He said on November 15, “I believe it is very important to maintain the House tradition of not issuing ethics reports on people who are no longer members of Congress.” “The House Ethics Committee has jurisdiction over sitting members of Congress. This is an important rule.”
Casten's motion cites four instances in which the Ethics Committee has issued reports on investigations of members after they resigned.
Bipartisan committee meeting held on November 20 To consider whether to issue a reportBut it was evenly divided across party lines on how to proceed. A day later, Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration, facing a difficult path to Senate confirmation. There was growing interest from senators on both sides of the aisle in seeing the report ahead of the confirmation vote.
The House Ethics Committee met again on Thursday to discuss investigating the allegations against Gaetz. In a statement, the panel said it was “continuing to discuss this matter.” The committee's top Democrat, Representative Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, who wanted the report made public, did not attend the meeting.