Story perspectives

House Orders Release of $500K Taxpayer-Funded Sexual Harassment Settlements

7/2/2026

Summary

Story summary

The U.S. House unanimously approved a resolution ordering the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights and the House Ethics Committee to disclose taxpayer-funded sexual-misconduct settlements.
Disclosed records show taxpayers funded more than $500,000 in confidential sexual-harassment settlements dating back to 1996.
From 1996 through 2018 the Office approved 349 awards or settlements, including seven for sexual harassment.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) pushed the resolution, saying earlier disclosures were insufficient.

History

Historical Context

After the Watergate scandal spurred the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, Congress adopted the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995—signed by President Bill Clinton—to apply federal labor protections to its own workplaces. Building on that precedent, Rep. Thomas Massie and the House Ethics Committee invoked the act’s disclosure rules in a unanimous 2024 resolution, seeking public access to settlement records.

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Story summary

The U.S. House unanimously approved a resolution ordering the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights and the House Ethics Committee to disclose taxpayer-funded sexual-misconduct settlements.
Disclosed records show taxpayers funded more than $500,000 in confidential sexual-harassment settlements dating back to 1996.
From 1996 through 2018 the Office approved 349 awards or settlements, including seven for sexual harassment.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) pushed the resolution, saying earlier disclosures were insufficient.

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