Relationships between legislators and employees of other offices are not unheard of. But some say that needs to change.
Congressman Tony Gonzalez admits extramarital affair and resigns from Congress
Congressman Tony Gonzalez announced he would resign from Congress after admitting to an affair with a staffer who later self-immolated.
WASHINGTON – A lawmaker’s love life is under the microscope as part of the next phase of a broader ethics review on Capitol Hill.
Bans on members of Congress dating their own employees have been in place for years, but amid a spate of recent scandals, prominent voices in Congress, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, say stricter rules are long overdue. Bipartisan momentum is also pushing a new push to ban all members, regardless of their superiors, from having intimate relationships with lower-level Hill employees.
“As with any workplace, this is inappropriate,” Johnson (R-Louisiana) told reporters this week. “At a minimum, Congress should have the rules and traditions that are followed in corporate America.”
However, such relationships are not unheard of. While traveling with a congressional delegation in 2002, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) met his wife, Julia Hart, then a Senate staffer in a different office. The two were married in 2005 and have a daughter.
But the days of such office romances may be long gone. Congressional leaders are preparing for a possible overhaul of the Legislature’s ethics rules after two senators, Republican Tony Gonzalez and Democrat Eric Swalwell, resigned this year over allegations of sexual misconduct toward subordinates. Women in Congress, in particular, are leading a bipartisan movement to hold themselves and their male colleagues to higher standards.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.), chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, said the ban on lawmakers dating staffers has been a major focus of bipartisan ethics reform negotiations.
“Congress is a place you come to serve, not a place to date,” she said in a statement to USA TODAY. “We look forward to passing this ban and enacting larger reform measures that not only protect our young staff but also change the culture on Capitol Hill.”
Amid record-breaking shutdowns and seemingly entrenched gridlock, potential changes to how the Capitol operates could end up being one of the 119th Congress’ most lasting legacies.
Rep. Cat Cammack (R-Fla.), chair of the Republican Caucus, is working with Democrats to prepare an ethics bill that she hopes will be introduced in September after the House returns from its August recess.
“If you want to propose or date or be involved with another staff member in the Capitol, you’re having a lot of influence over that staff member’s career, and that’s wrong,” she said in a recent interview with 535 News.
“Sea fish”
The renewed interest in lawmakers’ dating habits was sparked in part by a July 16 article in a conservative tabloid.
The New York Post, citing anonymous sources, accused Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) of having a consensual relationship with a junior staffer several years ago when he was single. Asked by an NBC News reporter about the veracity of the Post’s story, the senator said, “I don’t want to get involved in gossip.” Gallego’s office told USA TODAY it supports a broad ban on intimate relationships between lawmakers and their staff (but did not comment on the Post article).
Most of the concerns about ethics in the 119th Congress came from the other side of the Capitol, where there are more members of Congress than senators, and many of them are younger than senators.
More scandals came to light after Mr. Swalwell and Mr. Gonzalez were expelled from the House. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-North Carolina) was investigated by the Congressional Ethics Committee amid allegations of sexual harassment within his office. Paul Shoemaker, a spokesman for Mr. Edwards’ campaign, told the USA TODAY Network in May that the congressman welcomed the review and insisted that Mr. Edwards “did nothing wrong.”
But none of his colleagues were quick to come to his defense, with Mr Johnson calling the allegations against Mr Edwards “serious”. Instead, Republicans like Cammack say it’s past time to address the “creepy element” at the Capitol.
Democrats agree with her.
“There’s a lot of fish in the sea,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, told reporters this week. “If someone is looking for a partner, they don’t necessarily have to do it here.”
Zachary Schermele is USA TODAY’s Congressional Correspondent. You can email us at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and on Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social..
