Speaker Mike Johnson and other House Republican leaders asked Rep. Tony Gonzales to end his reelection bid, they said Thursday, after the Texas lawmaker admitted to an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

The announcement comes a day after the House Ethics Committee launched an probe into Gonzales and Blue Light News reported that independent House investigators found a “substantial reason to believe” that he had a sexual relationship with the subordinate.

“The Ethics Committee has announced an investigation into Congressman Tony Gonzales’s conduct, and we urge them to act expeditiously,” Johnson and the three other highest-ranking House Republicans said in a statement. “In the meantime, Leadership has asked Congressman Gonzales to withdraw from his race for re-election.”

A Gonzales spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Gonzales has advanced to a May 26 runoff against GOP challenger Brandon Herrera, who narrowly outpolled him in Tuesday’s primary. He previously denied the accusations as “rumors” that “are completely untruthful” before admitting to the affair with Regina Santos-Aviles earlier this month.

“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales told radio host Joe Pagliarulo shortly after the primary.

He said the affair had “absolutely nothing to do with” Santos-Aviles’ death.

Gonzales has insisted he will not resign from Congress, as some of his GOP colleages have suggested. Notably, Johnson and the other GOP leaders did not call for Gonzales to resign — which would create a vacancy lasting months as they struggle to manage a narrow Republican majority.

Senate Republicans are holding their breath ahead of President Donald Trump’s critical choice in Texas: an establishment GOP candidate vs. a MAGA firebrand.

The president announced Wednesday his incoming endorsement in the Texas GOP Senate runoff between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton. Senate leaders have urged the president to throw his support behind Cornyn to avoid a grueling 12-week showdown that could burn $100 million or more in GOP donor money.

There’s hope from some of Cornyn’s allies, who believe things are aligning in the incumbent’s favor, as he appears on track to win a plurality in Tuesday’s voting.

A swift endorsement would also let Senate Republicans pivot their resources toward holding onto seats that Democrats are targeting. That could now include Montana, after GOP Sen. Steve Daines announced Wednesday night that he would not seek reelection.

“I hope it’s going to be soon,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Wednesday about an official Trump nod, hours after making his latest plea on Cornyn’s behalf to the president.

He’s not alone. Multiple other Republicans have pressed the president to back Cornyn ever since he advanced to the primary runoff Tuesday, according to three people granted anonymity to describe private conversations.

They warned Trump that if scandal-plagued Paxton becomes the nominee, it could cost Republicans a seat they have held since 1961. There’s even more GOP anxiety now that state Rep. James Talarico secured the Democratic nomination — a candidate many believe could give Democrats their best chance at flipping the seat.

“There’s nothing more powerful than President Trump’s endorsement,” Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said in an interview for Blue Light News’s “The Conversation” Wednesday. Britt said Cornyn is “without a doubt the candidate to win in November.”

However, anxious Republicans are acutely aware that the president has always been fond of Paxton, a MAGA firebrand who eagerly joined Trump’s effort to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 win.

“We need to hold that seat which means we need to nominate someone who is going to win in November,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told Blue Light News. “The person that will win in November is John Cornyn.”

What else we’re watching: 

— War powers resolution vote: House Republican leaders are confident a bipartisan Iran war powers resolution will fail Thursday, after the Senate on Wednesday rejected an attempt to rein in Trump’s authority to pursue the war. GOP Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio are bound to break ranks with their party to support the effort. But a small group of Democrats are expected to oppose the resolution.

— Kids online safety markup: The House Energy and Commerce Committee will debate Thursday over the latest GOP proposal to set national standards for kids’ online safety as Democrats warn it weakens state protections. Expect a partisan clash over how far Congress should go in regulating tech companies and preempting state laws.

Jordain Carney, Alex Gangitano, Liz Crampton, Calen Razor, Ruth Reader, Alfred Ng and Gabby Miller contributed to this report.

Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales has admitted for the first time that he had a sexual relationship with his former staff member who killed herself last year.

Gonzales, who faces a May runoff in the Republican primary to hold his seat, insisted in a radio interview that he is not responsible for her death.

“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment, and there was a lack of faith, and I take full responsibility for those actions,” Gonzales told radio host Joe Pagliarulo.

Gonzales, who is married, made the comments hours after congressional investigators recommended the House Ethics committee probe the lawmaker for the relationship, which would be a violation of House rules. The Texas lawmaker said he plans to cooperate with the committee’s investigation.

The acknowledgment comes a day after Gonzales was forced into a runoff election in his west Texas congressional seat against Brandon Herrera, a media personality who owns a gun business and calls himself “the AK Guy.”

Several of his Republican colleagues have called for Gonzales to step down after new details about the relationship came to light in the weeks before Tuesday’s election. Gonzales had previously denied the affair and refused to resign.

Gonzales is alleged to have tried to coerce Regina Santos-Aviles into sending explicit photos, according to text messages published by the San Antonio Express-News and other publications. Blue Light News has not independently reviewed the messages.

An attorney for Gonzales declined to comment.

In the interview, Gonzales spoke about Santos-Aviles’ time working in his office before her death, which he said came as “a shock to everyone.” She died by suicide after setting herself on fire at her home in 2025 – about a year after the exchange of messages with the lawmaker.

“Some of the reports are saying that she was not thriving at work. It’s exact opposite. She was thriving at work,” he said.

Gonzales said that Santos-Aviles’ suicide had “absolutely nothing to do with” their relationship.