House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he would back a bipartisan effort to ban lawmakers from engaging in sexual relations with congressional staff.
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House ethics rules bar members from having such relations with their own staff but do not prevent lawmakers from pursuing other aides on Capitol Hill.
A bipartisan task force seeking to overhaul House sexual misconduct rules and reporting processes is looking to change that — and the speaker is endorsing the proposal.
Mr. Johnson said he does not believe members of Congress should engage in romantic relations with any Hill staff, given the power dynamics at play.
“We should at a bare minimum in Congress have rules and traditions that are adhered to in corporate America,” he said. “So that’s an easy one for me.”
The task force was formed after California Democrat Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Tony Gonzales resigned from Congress early this year amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
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Mr. Gonzales, who is married, admitted to having an affair with one of his aides in 2024. She later died from self-immolation.
Mr. Swalwell denied multiple allegations of sexual harassment, including a claim that he raped a former aide.
Other lawmakers facing allegations remain in Congress.
The House Ethics Committee is investigating Rep. Chuck Edwards, North Carolina Republican, for allegedly fostering a hostile work environment and sexually harassing female aides.
The New York Post reported last week that Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, who was friends with Mr. Swalwell, had consensual sexual relationships with two House aides from other offices when he served in the lower chamber and was unmarried.
That would not have been a violation of House ethics rules, but is the type of scenario the bipartisan task force wants to prevent.
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