Colorado Republican unveils bill banning relationships between members and staff without ethics disclosure

Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) on Wednesday introduced a resolution requiring House lawmakers to disclose relationships with staffers of other offices or committees to the lower chamber’s Committee on Ethics.

Crank’s resolution proposes upholding the existing ban on lawmakers from dating their staffers or staffers of a committee they serve on. It also proposes mandating lawmakers confidentially disclose relationships with staffers in other offices or committees to the Ethics panel.

If the circumstances of the relationship changes, members must then give “prompt notification” to the committee. 

Under the House Code of Official Conduct, members cannot engage in a “sexual relationship” with their staffers or staffers of committees they work on, with an exception for marriage. 

While lawmakers cannot engage in “unwelcome sexual advances or conduct” to House employees, the code of conduct does not explicitly bar relationships between members and staffers of other offices and committees.

In a release, Crank said members of Congress “should be held to the highest standard.”

The Colorado Republican added, “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.”

Crank proposed the resolution a day after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) backed banning members from having relations with any Capitol Hill staffers. 

“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.”

“We should, at a bare minimum in Congress, have, you know, rules and traditions that are adhered to in corporate America,” Johnson said. “So, that’s an easy one for me.”

Last week, the New York Post reported that Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), during his time in the House, had consensual relationships while he was not married with two aides to Texas Democrats. The Arizona Democrat told reporters last week the story was “gossip.”

The Senate Ethics Committee last month dismissed a complaint against Gallego by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who accused the Arizona senator of making inappropriate advances toward several women and violating campaign finance rules. 

Former Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) also resigned earlier this year amid allegations of improper relationships with staffers — one former staffer of Swalwell’s accused him of rape. Swalwell has denied wrongdoing, while Gonzales admitted to the affair with a staffer who later committed suicide. 

Responding to the New York Post story about Gallego, House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) said Congress should bar members from dating all staffers. 

“Even if a relationship is consensual, there is an inherent power imbalance that can undermine trust and create an appearance of impropriety,” the No. 4 House Republican wrote on the social platform X. “The goal should be protecting staff and maintaining confidence in the institution.”

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