House passes the buck on Mace's push for sexual misconduct disclosure amid Tony Gonzales scandal

On the same day that Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) admitted to having an affair with a former staffer who tragically committed suicide by self-immolation, the U.S. House of Representatives sidelined a bill that would potentially have brought transparency to matters of sexual misconduct among members of Congress.

On Wednesday, the House voted "yea" on a motion to refer a subpoena sponsored by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to the House Ethics Committee.

'I think it is DISGUSTING how Congress protects its own corruption. No wonder the American people hate us.'

The bill, which passed 357-65 in favor of referring the resolution to the Ethics Committee, directs the committee to "preserve and publicly release records of the Committee's review of violations or alleged violations of clause 9 (as it pertains to acts of sexual harassment) and clause 18 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives."

Though she sponsored the bill, Mace appears to be upset by the vote to refer the subpoena to the House Ethics Committee because its leadership has made clear that it does not intend to move forward with the disclosure.

Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and ranking member Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement: “Victims may be re-traumatized by public disclosures of interim work product, excerpts of interview transcripts, and certain exhibits. And witnesses, who often only speak to the Committee confidentially or on condition of future anonymity, could fear retaliation if their cooperation is made public.”

Mace took to X shortly after the resolution was sent to committee to condemn the outcome of the vote.

"Our resolution to expose predators in Congress was killed. Your government is more concerned with protecting predators than protecting women. The establishment watches out for itself," Mace wrote. "Remember this when they ask for your trust. This is what corruption looks like."

RELATED: 'I made a mistake': Tony Gonzales admits to affair with staffer who set herself on fire

Photographer: Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) signaled her support for the subpoena and said she was disgusted by the move to send the subpoena to the Ethics Committee, which she said is where "stuff" goes to "die."

"I think it is DISGUSTING how Congress protects its own corruption. No wonder the American people hate us," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said on X.

Mace made another post with all of the names of her colleagues who voted in favor of sending the subpoena to the committee. She then admonished them: "Shame on every single one of you who voted to protect predators in Congress over the women they prey on."

Though her first resolution was unsuccessful, Politico reported that Mace did have some success in forcing another vote, this time to subpoena the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights for records about sexual harassment awards and settlements under the Congressional Accountability Act.

Mace was able to successfully force that vote after reaching an agreement with Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) to limit the range of the subpoena to only members of Congress, as well as another small caveat, according to Politico.

Mace celebrated the win on X and made a promise to the American people: "After the full House voted to keep covering up Ethics Committee records of Members of Congress who engaged in sexual harassment records [sic], the Oversight Committee passed our motion to subpoena the taxpayer-funded settlement SLUSH FUND used to silence victims. Every Member of Congress who used your money to silence victims they harassed will be exposed, and we look forward to reviewing the records from the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. We will make sure YOU, the people, know their names."

Calls for disclosure of the so-called slush fund have been going on for years. In late 2024, then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) called for the release of the payouts and the names associated with them. The "slush fund" was estimated to be over $17 million at the time.

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