Congress

Jimmy Gomez is being investigated for ‘sexual harassment and assault,’ according to lawyers for woman interviewed by the Ethics Committee

Published

2 hours ago

August 19, 2026

Lawyers for a woman interviewed as part of the House Ethics Committee probe into Rep. Jimmy Gomez alleged the California Democrat’s interactions with their client were not consensual — rebutting claims by Gomez that his “personal mistakes outside” his marriage were “consensual in nature.”

“Contrary to Representative Gomez’s assertion in his statement, his actions were not ‘consensual in nature’ with respect to our client,” Lisa Banks and Sarah Nesbitt, attorneys for the woman who spoke with the Ethics Committee “about her experience of sexual harassment and assault by Representative Jimmy Gomez,” said in a statement Wednesday.

They added, “We fully expect that the House Committee on Ethics will come to the same conclusion in its investigation.”

Gomez’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Banks’ claims.

The disclosure that Banks and Nesbitt’s client was interviewed by the Ethics panel regarding alleged “sexual harassment and assault” provides more granular details on what the bipartisan committee, which operates in secret, is actually investigating.

The committee announced Monday that it was looking into whether Gomez engaged in “sexual misconduct,” including “inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.” Gomez released his own statement conceding that while he did cheat on his wife in years past, his extramarital affairs were “consensual” and “haven’t violated the law or House Ethics rules.”

He also said he respects the process of the Ethics Committee and was “confident that a full and impartial review of the facts will bear” out that he did not violate House rules or the law.

Currently, members of Congress are permitted to have consensual intimate relationships with any staffer as long as they are not the members’ subordinate. A bipartisan effort is underway to change the rules to prohibit lawmakers from engaging in such activities with employees of any congressional office.

That initiative is being spearheaded by Reps. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), who hope to unveil ethics overhaul legislation in September. They are also working to make sure the Ethics Committee works faster to investigate allegations of misconduct, make reports public and recommend punishments that are proportional to the offense.

There’s a strong appetite on Capitol Hill to root out and crack down on members engaged in sexual misconduct after two lawmakers — then-Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) — were forced to resign within a week of each other amid accusations of serious misconduct toward staffers. Swalwell has denied an allegation of assault and allegations of sexual misconduct, while Gonzales admitted to an affair with his subordinate who died by suicide.

Gomez was a co-chair of Swalwell’s campaign for governor and quickly called for his former colleague to withdraw from the Democratic primary.

A third member, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) was pressured to drop his bid for reelection earlier this month after the Ethics Committee released a report with findings that the lawmaker engaged in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.” Lawyers for Edwards said that the Ethics Committee “failed to demonstrate that either of the two staffers expressed discomfort to Representative Edwards regarding his conduct with them.”

Banks and Nesbitt, the attorneys for the woman who made claims against Gomez, in their statement Wednesday, said the Gomez case was “just the latest example of brazen sexual misconduct by a member of Congress. Congress must act to rein in its members who seem to believe that preying on young women working on Capitol Hill is one of the perks of their job.”

“We will continue to work with our client and with the House Committee on Ethics to ensure there is accountability for Representative Gomez and a safe path for any other survivors to come forward and share their experiences,” they said.

Tom Rust, the staff director for the House Ethics Committee, declined to comment Wednesday.

Congress

Trump says he told Cory Mills to ‘get out of the race’

Published

4 hours ago

August 19, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

President Donald Trump says he told Florida Rep. Cory Mills to exit the Republican primary before his election defeat Tuesday but that the embattled lawmaker “wouldn’t listen.”

Mills, who was defeated by former local television news reporter Ryan Elijah on Tuesday night in Florida’s 7th District, was dogged by a litany of scandals, including a restraining order issued by a Florida judge last year after a former girlfriend accused him of threatening to reveal her sexually explicit videos.

Still, Trump endorsed him in February. But the president suggested on Truth Social on Wednesday that he was far from confident in the prospect of a Mills victory.

“I told Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a friend of mine, to get out of the Race, but he wouldn’t listen,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He thought he could win, so who can blame him?”

The president immediately backed Elijah, whom he said “stands for EVERYTHING MAGA, and is respected by ALL.”

Mills isn’t the only Trump-backed Republican to see defeat in a GOP primary this summer. A slew of the president’s governor picks — including Mike Lindell in Minnesota and Randy Feenstra in Iowa — were bested by other candidates. So too were Reps. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) and Navy veteran Amir Hassan. Catalina Lauf, the president’s choice for Florida’s 19th congressional district, lost on Tuesday to media executive Jim Schwartzel.

It isn’t the first time Trump has distanced himself from a Republican after defeat.

Ogles, he said in a Truth Social post after the Tennessee primary, “was a person who I remained loyal to even though he had virtually no chance of winning.” And his opponent, former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, was another “Great “Trump” Candidate,” the president wrote.

Congress

Capitol agenda: Senate Republicans get a summer hotseat

Published

7 hours ago

August 19, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Republicans are facing unexpected waves of online vitriol after — essentially — standing in front of their empty chamber during recess and hitting the gavel.

MAGA social media circles have seized on what was once a little-noticed, low-drama procedural affair as the newest opportunity to eviscerate Republicans for what they see as being insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump.

Some GOP senators have even told colleagues in recent weeks they don’t want to be included in the conference’s rotation for presiding over what’s known as the chamber’s pro forma sessions because it will result in being flamed on the internet, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose private conversations.

“I think people just do it to get clicks, right? And they are also misinformed,” Sen. Ron Johnson said in an interview about the online furor, adding that Republicans “broke the logjam” by confirming most of Trump’s nominees before recess.

The purpose of such sessions is to prevent any president from temporarily installing a Cabinet pick or filling other vacancies without securing Senate confirmation. A 2014 Supreme Court decision laid out restrictions on recess appointments that have limited presidents’ use of the maneuver, and the House would need to agree to terms that would allow them.

But those restrictions are lost on hard-line online activists who are now willing to publicly skewer even typical Trump allies they see as undermining the president’s ability to leapfrog the Senate’s confirmation process and make unilateral recess appointments on nominations.

The outcry also overlooks the fact that Senate Republicans have confirmed more of Trump’s civilian nominees in his second term so far as compared to this point in his first term, thanks to a rule change they made last fall allowing most executive branch picks to be confirmed as a bloc rather than individually.

Sen. Jim Justice on Monday was the latest of the 11 Republican lawmakers who will make the trek to Washington to preside over a pro forma session this summer — and he’s already being branded in corners of the internet as a “traitor” who is “BLOCKING the America First Agenda.”

He followed Sens. John Boozman and Jim Banks, who got an earful from conservatives themselves.

When Johnson presided over the chamber briefly in early July as part of Independence Day recess, he said he got flack online for it. And while he said he wasn’t bothered by the criticism, which included being called one of the “five filthy failures” who oversaw a session during the chamber’s two-week break, his Trump-supporting bona fides also didn’t spare him from the trolling.

What else we’re watching:

— PROGRESSIVES NOTCH FLORIDA WIN AS MILLS EXITS: Democratic Socialist member and state Rep. Angie Nixon pulled off a stunning upset for progressives in the Democratic Florida Senate primaries last night, defeating her better-funded opponent, retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman. It marks one of the progressive movement’s biggest breakthroughs yet this primary season, in part because other successes have been in blue and purple states. In GOP upsets: scandal-plagued Rep. Cory Mills lost his four-way primary battle for Florida’s 7th District to Ryan Elijah, a former local television news reporte.

— MILLER WARNS OF BLEEDING UNION SUPPORT: GOP leaders have not stood in the way of Rep. Max Miller’s reelection bid amid allegations of domestic abuse against his ex-wife and young child. But the Ohio lawmaker is fretting the loss of support from a key constituency — unions — could damage his reelection prospects. Miller wrote in a July 8 court filing that multiple unions are turning their backs on him as a result of allegations raised by his ex-wife Emily Moreno. “Based on those organizations’ typical levels of support, I estimate the withdrawn organizational support at approximately $30,000, in addition to lost personal contributions from individual donors who have told me or my campaign that they will not contribute because of these allegations,” Miller wrote.

Jordain Carney, Kimberly Leonard, Gary Fineout and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.

Congress

The Senate GOP’s summer hot seat: Pro forma sessions

Published

10 hours ago

August 19, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Sen. Jim Justice is being branded in corners of the internet as a “traitor” intent on “BLOCKING the America First Agenda.”

The West Virginia Republican’s sin? A brief appearance he made on Capitol Hill Monday afternoon, according to a wave of online conservative fury, wherein he gaveled the largely empty chamber quickly in and out of session, then left.

“Thank you for being out here today,” Justice told reporters as he exited the Capitol’s second floor after chatting about the farm bill, the Iran war and the odds of passing a third party-line spending bill before the midterms — seemingly unaware he had just stepped on a right-wing landmine.

Justice is the latest of the 11 Republican lawmakers who will sit in the Senate GOP’s unlikeliest hotseat during the chamber’s five-week summer recess and preside over what’s known as a pro forma session of Congress.

These brief sessions lasting a few minutes or less have traditionally been little-noticed, low-drama affairs. They require one senator from the majority party to make the trek back to Washington every few days during an extended break. Their purpose is to effectively limit a president from either party from temporarily installing a Cabinet pick or filling other vacancies without securing Senate confirmation.

A 2014 Supreme Court decision laid out restrictions on recess appointments that have limited presidents’ use of the maneuver, and the House would need to agree to terms that would allow them. But those restrictions are lost on hard-line online activists who now view presiding over a Senate pro forma session as a failed loyalty test to President Donald Trump, and they’re willing to publicly skewer even typical Trump allies they incorrectly perceive as undermining the president.

Some GOP senators, rather than laugh off a huge misunderstanding, have told colleagues in recent weeks they don’t want to be included in the conference’s rotation for presiding over the chamber because it will result in being flamed on the internet, according to two people granted anonymity to disclose private conversations.

“I think people just do it to get clicks, right? And they are also misinformed. There was no issue with recess appointments, but we are getting blasted ‘why would you do this to prevent President Trump from doing recess appointments?’” Sen. Ron Johnson said in an interview about the online furor, adding that Republicans “broke the logjam” by confirming most of Trump’s nominees before break.

The Wisconsin Republican is no stranger to the outrage, having presided over the chamber briefly in early July as part of Independence Day recess. Asked if he got flack online for it, Johnson said, “oh yeah,” but added that he wasn’t bothered by the criticism, which included being called one of the “five filthy failures” who oversaw a session during the chamber’s two-week break.

Justice — whose office did not respond to a request for comment about the Monday backlash — is the third GOP senator who has done a pro forma session during the current, ongoing summer recess, following Sens. John Boozman of Arkansas and Jim Banks of Indiana.

“The House left town without approving a resolution that would allow recess appointments. Due to their inaction, the Senate is constitutionally-required to gavel-in every 3 days,” Banks said in a statement Tuesday to Blue Light News.

“So for all the ‘constitutionalists’ asking: I didn’t think twice about doing my constitutional duty when it was my turn,” he added.

Others have gotten out of the job at critical junctures. Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, for instance, had been scheduled to preside over a pro forma session in April where Majority Leader John Thune ultimately cleared a bill without a formal roll call vote to fund most of the Homeland Security Department, with the exception of some immigration enforcement activities.

Instead, Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton ended up presiding and became the target of one conservative activist with nearly 400,000 followers on X. She accused Cotton of helping “the establishment wing of the Senate” prevent “America First nominees” from being confirmed.

It’s not clear why conservative social media circles have seized on Senate pro forma sessions as the newest opportunity to eviscerate Republicans for being insufficiently loyal to Trump. The House holds pro forma meetings during recesses, too, and members on that side of the Capitol have largely evaded similar vitriol.

But Trump himself has perennially hammered Senate Republicans to formally adjourn so he could essentially leapfrog the chamber’s confirmation process and make unilateral recess appointments on nominations.

During the 2024 battle to replace outgoing GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, then-president-elect Trump said anyone seeking the party leadership position “must agree to Recess Appointments.”

Trump also warned last year — in a position similar to the one he took during his first term — that he could try to force the chambers to adjourn so that he could make recess appointments, a move that would be without precedent and spark a fierce legal battle.

Ultimately, Trump never made good on his threat. Instead, Senate Republicans left for their August recess last year with his blessing and changed the rules in the fall to speed up confirmation of most executive branch picks by letting them be confirmed as a bloc rather than individually.

“The reality is, the Senate still has a responsibility and a role to play in appointments,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told reporters last year in defense of pro forma sessions — shortly after he presided over one.

Senate Republicans have confirmed more of Trump’s civilian nominees in his second term so far as compared to this point in his first term, including confirming nearly all of the civilian nominees who have been voted out of committee.

“We’ve been on a mission … to ensure that the president has his nominations in place so we can do the job the American people elected him to do,” Thune said earlier this month from the Senate floor about the Senate GOP’s nominations pace.

Trump has never made a recess appointment; nor did former President Joe Biden. President Barack Obama made 32 recess appointments during his two terms, which sparked a showdown at the Supreme Court over three picks for the National Labor Relations Board. The justices ruled unanimously in 2014 that those appointments were unconstitutional because they were made when the Senate was out for a three-day break.

Yet the idea of being able to leapfrog the Senate appears to still be on Trump’s mind: Late last month, as part of a string of recent comments railing on Senate Republicans and Thune in particular, Trump posted a graphic on Truth Social that questioned “Where is John Thune” along with the number of recess appointments made by past GOP Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Meanwhile, word is circulating among Senate Republicans about the online outrage over the Senate pro forma sessions.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who presided over the chamber during one session in late May, shrugged off a question about whether he had personally received pushback, saying he didn’t recall getting criticism but that he’s not very online. (Hawley, like every other GOP senator who has recently done a pro forma session, has gotten heat from a clutch of social media accounts driving much of the outrage.)

But asked about some of his colleagues not wanting to handle the brief meetings because they’ve gotten grief, Hawley acknowledged: “I’ve heard people say that.”