Johnson and Jeffries appoint bipartisan task force to reform sexual harassment reporting process on Capitol Hill
The US Capitol at dusk on Tuesday.
(CNN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appointed a bipartisan task force that will work to reform the way sexual harassment claims are handled in Congress.
The effort will be lead by Republican Rep. Kat Cammack and Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez. Each of the women is their party’s respective women’s caucus chair.
The announcement comes amid increased scrutiny over how Congress handles allegations of sexual misconduct and growing frustration even among the institution’s own members about the arduous and complicated reporting process for victims. It also comes after two House members — Eric Swalwell, a Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a Republican — resigned after both men faced threats of expulsion from Congress.
Congress has long struggled to police itself even after there was a major overhaul to the way it dealt with sexual harassment and other workplace issues in the wake of the #MeToo movement in 2018.
Since that time, the House Ethics Committee, the only entity with the power to make recommendations to punish members of the House, has also come under the microscope as members have criticized the panel for taking sometimes years to offer recommendations.
“Together, we will push for bipartisan changes to make the reporting process faster and more accessible and increase education and training resources, prioritizing staff and survivors at every step. This effort builds on the work of members of the DWC, who have pushed for better support and protections for survivors for years. We bring that expertise and dedication to this partnership,” Leger Fernández said in a statement.
“This effort has the support of Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries because this issue transcends politics. It’s about dignity, accountability, and ensuring that every person who comes to work in the People’s House is treated with respect and protected from abuse,” Cammack said in a statement. “The reality is that coming forward is extraordinarily difficult. Fear of retaliation, damage to careers, public scrutiny, and institutional pressure often silence victims long before justice has a chance to speak. We cannot claim to support women while ignoring the very real barriers that prevent them from reporting misconduct in the first place.”
The effort comes as both Johnson and Jeffries have had to navigate the political implications of losing members of their caucuses to resignations following allegations of sexual misconduct.
“To state the obvious, all women should feel comfortable and safe working in the halls of Congress. As a father who has two daughters working on Capitol Hill — this is as personal to me as it is to anyone,” Johnson said in a statement. “I am happy that Reps. Cammack and Leger Fernández, the respective chairs of the Republican and Democratic Women’s Caucuses, will lead this bipartisan partnership to find ways we can continue to make Capitol Hill safer for women and all staff.”
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