House votes against releasing Matt Gaetz ethics report for now

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers voted Thursday against releasing an Ethics Committee report on an exhaustive, yearslong investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a close ally and confidant of President-elect Donald Trump.

Democrats had forced the votes, and Republicans responded by voting to return the matter to the Ethics Committee, ending the fight over the report’s release for now. Whether it ever becomes public remains unknown.

Lawmakers voted shortly after the bipartisan Ethics Committee met privately — for a second time in as many months — about whether to make public the report on allegations that Gaetz engaged in illicit drug use and sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl and obstructed the House probe, among other claims.

But after 2½ hours, the committee panel did not release the report, saying in a statement that it is "continuing to discuss the matter." Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters the committee would meet again before the end of the year.

"I'm not going to speculate on future action that the committee may take," Guest said when he was asked whether it might still vote to release the report.

Other members of the panel, from both political parties, had no comment as they left the meeting. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, did not attend, and her office had no comment.

Gaetz has denied the allegations, which contributed to some Senate Republicans’ saying behind closed doors that they would not vote to confirm him as Trump's attorney general.

Before Thanksgiving, on Nov. 20, the 10-member Ethics Committee deadlocked over publishing the report into Gaetz, whom Trump announced as his pick to lead the Justice Department on Nov. 13, the day Gaetz resigned from Congress.

But Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration on Nov. 21— a move Guest said at the time “should end the discussion” about releasing the report.

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Without movement from the Ethics Committee, the full House took action Thursday evening, putting all lawmakers on record. Two Democrats — Sean Casten, of Illinois, and Steve Cohen, of Tennessee — forced the votes, with resolutions focused on the Gaetz report.

Casten’s resolution would have directed the committee to release its report to the public, while Cohen’s resolution would have forced the committee to preserve and release records of its review of Gaetz. Because the resolutions were introduced as “privileged” Tuesday, they had to be voted on within two legislative days.

But Republicans thwarted the resolutions by voting to send them to the Ethics Committee. The House voted 206-198 to refer the Casten resolution to the committee; just one Republican, Tom McClintock, of California, sided with Democrats and voted no.

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The House voted 204-198 to refer Cohen’s resolution to the committee; McClintock again was the lone Republican to vote with Democrats.

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Democrats had pushed to release the report, with Gaetz openly flirting with a bid for governor of Florida in 2026 or being mentioned for another potential role in the Trump White House — one that might not need to be confirmed by the Senate.

But Republicans did not want the report to be released, arguing that the Ethics Committee has jurisdiction only over sitting members of Congress — not ex-members.

House Democrats tried to do the same thing in September 1996, pressing the Ethics Committee to release a report from an outside counsel about its investigation of Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. But the House rejected the resolution in a floor vote.

Democrats this time are pushing back against the GOP argument that the Ethics only Committee cannot publish a report about a member who has recently resigned. Casten’s resolution cited multiple instances of the Ethics Committee’s releasing reports about former lawmakers.

For example, on Oct. 5, 1987, Rep. Bill Boner, D-Tenn., resigned to become mayor of Nashville. The Ethics Committee released an initial staff report the following December examining allegations that Boner misused campaign funds, failed to disclose gifts and accepted bribes.

And in 2006, after Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned over revelations he sent explicit electronic messages to at least one teenage former congressional page, the Ethics Committee released its report into the matter.

“Whereas given the serious nature of the allegations against Representative Gaetz,” Casten’s resolution says, “a failure of the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives to publicly release its report on its investigation undermines the committee’s credibility and impedes the safety, dignity, and integrity of the legislative proceedings of the House.”