Republicans on the House Ethics Committee are barreling into a no-win situation ahead of their expected meeting Wednesday to discuss their report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), weighing a high-stakes decision that will reverberate throughout Washington.
The gathering for the panel — which is known for conducting its business in secrecy — comes as the debate over releasing their report into Gaetz, President-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general, has reached a fever pitch.
One one side, Democrats on the committee — and several Republicans in Congress — say the report contains information that the public and senators should know as they consider whether to make Gaetz the head of an agency that once investigated him.
On the other end is Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who is arguing that releasing the report — which is the culmination of a roughly three-year investigation — could damage the House since the panel would be in the rare, but not unprecedented, situation of publishing information on a former member.
Caught in the center of that conversation are the Republicans on the panel, led by committee Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.), who have not yet disclosed where they stand despite incessant questions from reporters. Guest has only confirmed that the report exists and that all members of the committee have access to it.
“There’s not enough money in the world to pay me to serve on the Ethics Committee right now,” one House Republican said. “Those members are definitely in an unenviable position.”
With all Democrats expected to support releasing the report, just one Republican would be needed to achieve a majority vote and unleash the body of work. The committee is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, a structure intended to ensure that the panel — which polices its own members — does not act as a partisan weapon.
Members of the panel have not confirmed that they will vote on the report’s release Wednesday, but Democrats on the committee say they want to hold that referendum when they gather as a full group for the first time since Gaetz’s nomination and resignation. Members of each party have huddled separately since last week’s developments.
Such a vote, however, would force the GOP lawmakers into a tough position: vote to release the report and risk being the target of Trump’s wrath, or side with Gaetz — whom many Republicans loathe — and keep the allegedly damaging information private as the former congressman moves forward in the confirmation process to become attorney general.
Other Republicans are aware of those circumstances — and relieved they are not in the same position. A second House Republican said they do not envy the situation Republicans on the panel are in.
“I also wouldn’t want to be in a train wreck even if I survived,” they added.
A third House Republican, however, said the predicament is not very complicated. They predicted that there is a good chance enough GOP members on the committee vote to release the report because several of the members clearly dislike Gaetz and will not be deterred by potential backlash.
“I don’t think it’s going to cause them a lot of heartache,” the member said, adding that the more moderate GOP members of the panel are used to taking tough votes, and can “take that vote all day and still get reelected and walk around here.”
Wednesday’s meeting comes as pressure is mounting on both sides of the disclosure debate.
Rep. Susan Wild (Pa.), the top Democrat on the Ethics Committee, told reporters Monday that she had read the report and that she thinks it should be released. On Tuesday, 97 Democrats penned a letter to the panel asking that it “immediately release” the report out of concern that concealing the information could “jeopardize” the Senate’s confirmation process. And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) responded with a succinct “yes” when asked if the panel should release its report publicly.
A number of Republicans have echoed the desire to release the report, at least to the senators considering his confirmation.
“I think we need to see it for confirmation purposes,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who has harshly criticized Gaetz in the past, told reporters Tuesday.
Mullin is close with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was ousted in a coup led by Gaetz. Mullin said he has talked to McCarthy multiple times over the last week but declined to share the former Speaker’s thoughts on Gaetz.
Johnson, meanwhile, has consistently — and strongly — reiterated the Gaetz Ethics report should not see the light of day because the Florida Republican does not currently serve in the House.
“Matt Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress, and so we don’t issue Ethics reports on nonmembers,” Johnson reiterated on Tuesday. “I think it’s an important guardrail for us to maintain for the interest of the institution.”
Johnson said that he has spoken to Gaetz since his resignation but they have not discussed the reporting, contending that it would not be “appropriate” to talk about the matter with him.
“This is my own opinion and I expressed the opinion before I talked with Matt,” Johnson said.
The conversation surrounding Gaetz’s Ethics report broke out last week, after Trump shocked Washington and selected the Florida Republican to be attorney general. Gaetz resigned from Congress shortly after the pick.
Johnson, who broke the news of Gaetz’s departure, told reporters that he was leaving early to quicken the process for filling his seat in the lower chamber. The development, however, came days before the House Ethics Committee was scheduled to vote on releasing the Gaetz report, raising questions about the true motive behind his resignation.
The Ethics Committee investigated Gaetz for years over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other claims. Gaetz, whom the Justice Department declined to charge after investigating similar matters, has vigorously denied wrongdoing.
“It’s very suspicious that he all of a sudden resigned because other members who are being nominated for posts have not resigned,” Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) said last week, adding that “most people” in the House GOP conference believe he departed to try to stop the report from coming out.
Gaetz’s departure has muddied the path forward for the Ethics Committee, throwing the panel into a crisis as it debates the precedent that releasing the report may set.
The Speaker has argued that such a move would break a long-standing “rule” of the panel not publishing information on former members of Congress, even though there are previous examples of the current situation.
In 1987, the panel released its report into former Rep. William Boner (D-Tenn.) after he resigned from the House. And in 2011, the Senate Ethics Committee released its preliminary report into former Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) after he departed the chamber.
Johnson, however, rejected past circumstances, arguing that they were aberrations of the norm.
“It’s a very important rule that should be maintained,” Johnson said last week. “If it’s been broken once or twice it should not have been because that would be a Pandora’s box. I think it’s a very important position to maintain regardless of what the circumstances [are].”