The votes followed the House Ethics Committee’s decision against releasing the report publicly.
The House of Representatives on Dec. 5 blocked a pair of Democrat-led efforts to force the release of the House Ethics Committee’s report about former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
In a largely partisan vote, the House backed motions put forward by House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) to refer the report back to the Ethics panel.
Republican leadership has opposed efforts to release the report, noting that Gaetz was no longer a member of Congress after his resignation from the body in November.
A 206–198 vote rejected Rep. Sean Casten’s (D-Ill.) effort to force a floor vote to release the committee’s report publicly. A separate vote of 204–198 blocked a similar effort by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.).
The members of the Ethics panel, for their part, have decided against releasing the report publicly after no consensus was reached during a meeting on Nov. 20, with the votes breaking down 5–5 along party lines.
The decision, which Democrats criticized as partisan, aligns with the panel’s typical approach to former members of Congress: Historically, the committee has decided against releasing reports on members who are no longer in Congress.
That vote came after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Nov. 15 said that he would oppose releasing the report.
“I’m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report, because that is not the way we do things in the House,” Johnson told reporters. “And I think that would be a terrible precedent to set.”
Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) had earlier indicated that the report on the former congressman wasn’t finished or reviewed.
“I have some reservations about releasing any unfinished work product,” Guest, the committee chairman, told reporters before the meeting, noting that “it has not gone through the review process.”
Gaetz, a longtime ally of President-elect Donald Trump, came into the national spotlight in November after Trump nominated him to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ). He resigned from Congress shortly after Trump announced the selection.
An outspoken critic of many members of Congress, Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general faced immediate pushback in the Senate.
The nomination also brought the House Ethics Committee’s long investigation into allegations against Gaetz back to the forefront.
The panel’s original investigation opened in April 2021, and centered on allegations of illicit drug use, sharing inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misusing state identification records, converting campaign funds for personal use, and taking a bribe.
According to a June 2024 statement by the panel, Gaetz “categorically denied all of the allegations before the Committee.” Several of the charges were dropped, though others were still being investigated.
In March 2021, Gaetz announced during an appearance on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that he was also being investigated by the DOJ over “sexual conduct with a woman.” He said he was specifically accused of paying for a 17-year-old girl to travel with him, which would constitute sex trafficking.
He denied the allegations then as “verifiably false.”
He also discussed the allegations in a phone interview with Axios.
“The allegations against me are as searing as they are false,” Gaetz said. “I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know when I was a single guy.”
“I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I’ve dated,” Gaetz added. “You know, I’ve paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I’ve been, you know, generous as a partner. I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not.”
The DOJ ultimately did not bring charges against Gaetz over the allegations, suggesting that there may have been insufficient evidence to bring the case to trial after two years of investigations into the matter.
Gaetz ultimately withdrew his name from consideration for the top spot at the DOJ and later announced that he won’t be returning to politics. He is eligible to reclaim the seat during the next Congress.
Gaetz has since been vague about the next steps for his career.