The House overwhelmingly handed a decision to force the disclosure of records on confidential sexual harassment settlements on behalf of members Congress.
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie compelled the vote, saying that he believes paperwork and knowledge already turned over to lawmakers was not adequate. The measure was accepted with 420 votes and one GOP lawmaker voting current.
The Republican-backed effort is the most recent try from lawmakers to reply to requires extra accountability and transparency on Capitol Hill concerning sexual misconduct, a push that has been supported on either side of the aisle.
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights was already compelled to flip over settlement paperwork to Congress following a subpoena from GOP Rep. Nancy Mace earlier this yr.
Even although the paperwork revealed taxpayers paid over half one million {dollars} in confidential congressional sexual harassment settlements courting again a long time, Massie believes there may be extra for the workplace to publicize.
“I just feel like there’s something missing,” Massie stated forward of the vote, including that he needs the workplace to make clear whether or not there are extra records that may be turned over. The decision from the GOP lawmaker requires each that workplace and the House Ethics Committee to flip over data.
“If somebody thinks what I’m doing is redundant, then it’s an easy yes vote,” Massie informed NCS.
From January 1, 1996, by means of December 12, 2018, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights accepted 349 awards or settlements “to resolve complaints against legislative branch offices,” its common counsel stated in a letter despatched to House Oversight Chair James Comer beforehand obtained by NCS. Eighty of these circumstances had been settled by a House or Senate workplace for a bunch of causes. From that subset, seven circumstances led to funds to tackle allegations of sexual harassment.
The funds referenced within the letter used taxpayer cash from a Treasury account that now not exists as an choice for lawmakers.
Following coverage adjustments made in 2018 within the wake of the #MeToo motion, members might now not rely on taxpayer {dollars} for settlements.
The House Ethics Committee introduced in a current assertion that because the enactment of the brand new legislation, “the Committee has not been notified of any awards or settlements relating to allegations of sexual harassment by a member.”