House leaders to take action on process for sexual misconduct claims

Washington — The House’s top Republican and top Democrat are launching a bipartisan initiative aimed at addressing how sexual misconduct claims are handled within the House of Representatives. 

The partnership was announced Wednesday by Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, along with Reps. Kat Cammack and Teresa Leger Fernández,  who chair the Republican and Democratic Women’s Caucuses, respectively.

“We’re all in support, fully supportive,” Johnson told CBS News exclusively ahead of the announcement. “I think the main thing that they need to work on, we all think they need to work on is reporting mechanisms.”

“There’s this concern that, you know, young female staffers, for example, are intimidated to come forward, so trying to figure out some sort of whistleblower protection program,” Johnson added. “It needs to happen, so we’re gonna advance that as quickly as we can.” 

“We’re working on something bipartisan right now, and we’re trying to figure out the logistics of it,” Jeffries told CBS News.

The initiative follows the resignations of Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas last month. Swalwell, who also suspended his gubernatorial campaign in the Golden State, has denied allegations of sexual misconduct but faces several legal challenges.  Earlier this year, Gonzales admitted having an affair with a congressional staffer who later died by suicide and said he would not seek reelection.  

Since the controversies erupted, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been engaged in discussions, including leaders of the Democratic Women’s Caucus and the Republican Women’s Caucus. 

“I think that there is an equal amount of attention from both sides of the aisle on the issue,” Rep. Cammack of Florida, who co-chairs the Republican Women’s Caucus, told CBS News. She added that House leadership understands “that this is very timely, and they see that this is transcending politics.” 

Cammack said the effort would likely focus in the coming months on changing the “culture on Capitol Hill” and addressing gaps in the system when it comes to reporting claims. 

“It’s a really convoluted process for people to come forward and report and there’s a lot of fear in reporting,” Cammack explained. “While this is not a knee-jerk reaction, it’s a thoughtful, well-thought-out process.” 

Cammack and Rep. Leger Fernández of New Mexico will also work with the House Committee on Administration to determine next steps and proposed reforms. 

“We clearly need to have reform because we’ve had staffers who are unwilling to come forward and engage in the process,” Leger Fernández, who chairs the Democratic Women’s Caucus, told CBS News last month. “And so, we need to do that, and how do we do it? We’re going to look forward to having women lead the process.”