WASHINGTON — The federal government paid more than $338,000 to settle sexual harassment allegations involving members of the U.S. House of Representatives and their offices since 2004, a figure significantly higher than previously known, according to records obtained by the House Oversight Committee.
The information was released by Nancy Mace after the committee subpoenaed records detailing confidential settlements made before Congress banned the use of public funds for such agreements in 2018.
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Mace identified several congressional offices connected to the settlements, including those of former Representatives Eric Massa, John Conyers, Blake Farenthold and Patrick Meehan, all of whom had previously faced public allegations of misconduct.
The records also referenced an $8,000 settlement tied to the office of the late former Representative Carolyn McCarthyand a separate $15,000 payment associated with former Representative Rodney Alexander.
Alexander said the complaint involved a former staff member who was dismissed after the allegation became known.
The revelations come amid renewed scrutiny over how Congress handles allegations of sexual misconduct following the recent resignations of former Representatives Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales over claims of inappropriate behavior involving staff.
Mace said the subpoenaed records would be released publicly after all personally identifiable information related to victims and witnesses is properly redacted.
“Accountability is not a threat,” Mace wrote. “It is a promise.”
Some of the settlements had already been publicly disclosed. In 2018, reports revealed that Meehan agreed to reimburse the government for a $39,000 payment used to settle a sexual harassment complaint. Farenthold also resigned that year amid an ethics investigation tied to an $84,000 settlement with a former aide.
However, other payments appear to be newly disclosed, bringing the known total to nearly double the amount lawmakers were informed about during the last major congressional reckoning over workplace misconduct in 2017.
The records indicate that Massa, who resigned in 2010 while facing an ethics investigation, was connected not only to a previously known $85,000 settlement but also to an additional $30,000 payment.
Similarly, Conyers, who died in 2019, had previously been linked to a roughly $27,000 severance payment made in 2014 to an accuser. The newly released records list an additional $50,000 payment made in 2010.
The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights told Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer that between 1996 and 2018 it approved 80 awards or settlements involving complaints against House or Senate offices.
According to the agency, 30 of those cases involved allegations that House members themselves committed misconduct or knowingly failed to address misconduct by subordinates.
Congress passed legislation in 2018 prohibiting the use of taxpayer money to pay settlements related to sexual harassment claims involving lawmakers. No such payments have been made since 2017.
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