Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., speaks to the press about ethics investigations at the U.S. Capitol on April 21, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — GOP leaders in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday defended the chamber’s secret process to investigate allegations of misconduct, even as they confirmed referring a complaint against Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego to the Ethics Committee.
“We always start very, very privately to protect members because we don’t want to facilitate frivolous accusations,” said Senate Ethics Committee Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla. “We want to make it easier to make accurate accusations. And actually work to be able to hold each other accountable.”
The comments came just hours after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he would lead an effort on this side of the Capitol to streamline the process for filing ethics complaints, especially those related to sexual harassment.
“You may know this, I have two daughters who work on Capitol Hill as committee staff. (This) is very serious to me. I’m a father. I’m not just the Speaker of the House,” he said. “It is for this reason that we must protect women and anyone who feels they have any inappropriate behavior. So if there are ways to tighten the rules and suggestions, we ask all members to do so. We are open to it.”
Johnson expressed hope that any votes to change the House rules would be bipartisan if they were not passed unanimously. He also addressed the long history of misconduct by members of Congress.
“There has always been inappropriate activity among politicians. I mean, it goes back to time immemorial. There has always been marital infidelity. There has always been nefarious behavior,” he said. “It occurs to us that this may not have been disclosed and as transparently as it is today due to the very active press, the 24/7 news cycle, smartphones and everything that is recorded.”
Discussions about whether to keep ethics and investigation rules as they are or overhaul the process began last week after both California Republican Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Tony Gonzales resigned in connection with accusations of sexual harassment.
Then Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned Tuesday, just before the House Ethics Committee could recommend what consequences she should face the panel found her guilty regarding over twenty violations.
GOP accusations on social media
However, Swalwell’s resignation may not mean the end of the scandal.
– wrote Florida Republican Anna Paulina Luna social media post on April 15 that “it looks like the Senate has its own garbage to throw out. @LeaderJohnThune You need to look into the allegations made against one of your senators, it’s very disturbing. My boss will be contacting your boss.”
Her comments appeared to be a reference to Gallego, R-Ariz., who was friends with Swalwell but has sought to distance himself from the former congressman since news of multiple women’s allegations broke earlier this month.
Thune said during Tuesday’s news conference that the “specific matter” had been referred to the Senate Ethics Committee and that he “did not know the details of the allegation.”
“The Senate Ethics Committee is charged with ensuring that this institution and its members conduct themselves in a manner befitting the office, and that we conduct ourselves ethically,” Thune said.
Gallego’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“A Quiet Way of Being”
Lankford said members of the Senate Ethics Committee “take taking allegations extremely seriously, especially allegations like sexual harassment and all the other things that happen… But we operate quietly.”
He added that the commission receives “hundreds of different allegations,” which its members then analyze to determine whether they should continue its work.
“As you know, in the political world we live in, many allegations come to us that are ultimately baseless,” Lankford said.
He said it is unlikely that the Senate Ethics Committee would move to a model similar to that used by the House Ethics Committee, which releases statements after it begins investigations into members, sometimes detailing allegations.
“There’s a lot more public exposure to this, and at the end of the day, they find out it’s become a theater of allegations,” Lankford said. “That makes it easier to bring more charges because it creates more theater.”
The Senate panel has not issued a press release since August 2024 and his two-page report for 2025, it was revealed that the committee dismissed 160 of 181 alleged violations due to “lack of substantive jurisdiction” or “failure to present sufficient facts regarding any material violation of Senate rules beyond mere allegations or allegations.”
The annual report adds that the Senate panel did not issue any “private or public letters of warning” and did not present any “matters resulting in disciplinary sanctions.”
One last time, the committee issued a public letter This occurred in March 2023, after South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham requested “federal campaign contributions” for Georgia senatorial candidate Herschel Walker.
Lankford later expanded on his belief that some of the ethics allegations were political rather than genuine in an afternoon press conference.
“Our goal is to hear from all people on this issue, but we live in a political world. In the political world, if any ethics allegation comes up, everyone grabs it, uses it in the campaign and says, ‘An ethics allegation has been made, the Ethics Committee is talking about it.’ And suddenly it becomes a drama and brings more things to bear on us,” he said. “We want to take every victim and every accusation seriously. But we also understand the environment in which we work.”
