Representative Jeff Crank, a Colorado Republican, introduced a resolution on Wednesday that would force House members to report any romantic or sexual relationships they have with congressional staffers who work for other lawmakers or committees to the House Ethics Committee. The measure aims to close a loophole in current ethics rules.
Crank's proposal would keep the existing prohibition on members dating their own staffers or employees of committees they serve on. But it goes further by requiring confidential disclosure of any such relationship with staffers from other offices or panels. If the nature of the relationship changes, lawmakers would have to notify the Ethics panel promptly.
The House Code of Official Conduct currently bars members from having a “sexual relationship” with their direct staff or committee staff, with an exception for those who are married. However, it does not explicitly prohibit relationships with staffers from other offices—a gap Crank’s resolution seeks to address.
“Members of Congress should be held to the highest standard,” Crank said in a statement. “We must recognize that as elected officials, we can have unbalanced influence over House employees, regardless of who they work for. The personal conduct of some of my colleagues has undermined public trust in this institution, and the legislative process, and we must do better.”
The push follows Speaker Mike Johnson’s endorsement of a blanket ban on all member-staff relationships on Capitol Hill. “I can’t believe it would be acceptable in any situation,” Johnson said at a press conference. “You have a role where you have members of Congress and their subordinates and staff members—I think it’s inappropriate, as it would be in any workplace, and most companies have that.”
Johnson argued Congress should at minimum adopt rules akin to those in corporate America. The speaker’s comments came after a New York Post report that Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) had consensual relationships with two aides to Texas Democrats while he served in the House. Gallego dismissed the story as “gossip.”
The Senate Ethics Committee recently dismissed a complaint against Gallego filed by Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who accused him of inappropriate advances and campaign finance violations. Separately, former Representatives Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) resigned this year amid allegations of improper staff relationships; Swalwell faces a rape accusation he denies, and Gonzales admitted to an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.
House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain responded to the Gallego report by calling for a total ban on member-staff dating. “Even if a relationship is consensual, there is an inherent power imbalance that can undermine trust and create an appearance of impropriety,” McClain wrote on X. “The goal should be protecting staff and maintaining confidence in the institution.”
Crank’s resolution marks the latest effort to tighten ethics rules on Capitol Hill, a move that could gain traction amid rising scrutiny of lawmakers’ conduct and the broader push for workplace accountability.
