WASHINGTON — Rep. Sean Casten, R-Fla., is pushing for a vote this week to require the House Ethics Committee to release a report on its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
Casten presented a resolution Tuesday will force a bipartisan ethics panel to act. Because the resolution is “privileged,” it must be voted on within two legislative days.
The newly elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, called his close ally Gaetsi his own elect the chief prosecutor On November 13. Gaetz also resigned from Congress that day.
But Gaetz removed his name from the discussion A week later, largely due to opposition from GOP senators ethics research allegations of sexual abuse and illegal drug use.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied doing anything illegal or illegal.
Before Gaetz bowed out, the Ethics Committee — five Republicans and five Democrats — deliberated behind closed doors and in the end it was a dead end along party lines over making the report public. But Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., said Gaetz’s withdrawal “should end the debate on whether the Ethics Committee should continue to move forward on this matter.”
The question is whether or not the panel must present the report to the public About a former member of Congress. The committee has jurisdiction only over members of Congress, but decades ago there is precedent for the committee releasing a report on a former lawmaker months after he resigned from Congress.
On October 5, 1987, Rep. Bill Boehner, D-Tenn., resigned to become mayor of Nashville. The Ethics Committee issued information preliminary employee report the following December, it investigated allegations that Boehner misused campaign funds, failed to disclose gifts and accepted bribes.
Casten introduced a similar resolution the week before Thanksgiving, but it ended when the House went on recess. The new version has been updated to include four examples of past cases where the Ethics Committee issued reports after members resigned.
“The Ethics Committee has released its reports on former members on multiple occasions,” Casten said in a statement Tuesday. “Resigning from Congress should not allow Members to avoid accountability for serious charges like the one facing Matt Gaetz. Withholding this report from the American people would undermine the dignity and integrity of the House’s legislative process.”
Since Gaetz withdrew the attorney general title, there has been speculation that he might run for Florida governor in 2026 or join the Trump White House in a position that would not require Senate confirmation — some of which Gaetz himself supported.