Jimmy Gomez being investigated for 'sexual harassments and assault,' lawyers allege

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.

Cammack and Leger Fernández, the co-chairs of their respective party’s women’s caucus, both put out statements urging the House Ethics Committee to move quickly to resolve the matter.

“A woman showed real courage in coming forward and telling the Ethics Committee that she was sexually harassed and assaulted by Representative Gomez. She deserves a process that is fast, fair, and fearless,” said Cammack. “Due process must be respected, but it cannot be used to run out the clock. The committee should move with urgency, and if these allegations are substantiated, Representative Gomez must resign and any criminal conduct must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”