The House Ethics Committee is overwhelmed. With two recent resignations over sexual misconduct allegations and at least two other investigations underway, the panel charged with policing congressional behavior is buckling under the caseload and openly asking for help.
Speaker Mike Johnson acknowledged the strain Friday, telling Axios the committee "is very busy right now" and promising whatever resources it needs. Ethics Chair Michael Guest has made the pitch explicit: he wants to absorb the separate Office of Congressional Conduct into his committee and bulk up staff to accelerate investigations that currently drag on for months or years.
The urgency reflects a mounting credibility problem. Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) both stepped down last month following sexual misconduct allegations. Gonzales acknowledged an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide; Swalwell denied the claims. Two other House Republicans, Chuck Edwards of North Carolina and Cory Mills of Florida, are currently under ethics investigation for sexual harassment and misconduct, both denying the allegations.
What makes the staffing question matter: the Ethics Committee has opened 20 sexual misconduct cases since 2017, yet members often resign before the panel finishes its work. The investigations can take years to produce findings. If Congress cannot investigate its own members swiftly, voters lose faith the institution can police itself at all.
Johnson and Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced a bipartisan task force Wednesday to explore misconduct reforms. They appointed the chairs of the Republican and Democratic women's caucuses, Reps. Kat Cammack of Florida and Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico, to lead the effort.
Cammack told Axios on Friday that "Ethics moves too slow" and Guest "has the right idea" on the resource question. The task force meets next Friday to begin mapping possible changes. Cammack aims to complete reforms before the midterm elections.
Democrats signaled they would make revitalizing the committee a priority if they retake the House. Rep. Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic caucus, said Democratic leader Jeffries would ask Ethics members what they need and work to provide it. Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations subcommittee controlling legislative branch funding, told Axios he would grant additional resources.
One House Republican dissented. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, known for demanding accountability investigations, said the committee does not need more money. "I think that they can do plenty of work that just requires them to actually sit down and make that a priority," Luna said. She cited her own work on ethics matters done without extra funding and argued she was more effective anyway.
Author James Rodriguez: "The Ethics Committee's crisis is real, but Luna has a point worth examining: does a broken system become better when you throw resources at it, or does it need someone to actually treat it as a job that matters?"
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