The house voted down a fast-track plan to show ethics probe results about Matt Gaetz (who left congress just about a month ago) with numbers showing 206-198 against release
In mid-fall‚ Gaetz stepped away from his position right after Donald Trump thought about making him attorney-general; the 42-year old ex-rep faces serious claims about teen-related mis-conduct and substance use which he strongly denies
The bi-partisan Ethics group met 12/5/24 but couldnt agree what to do with their findings: the group (split even between parties) got stuck when voting about showing results to public. Michael Guest‚ top-ranked Republican had some doubts because work wasnt done yet; while Susan Wild from Democrats side said nobody could agree on next steps
Sean Casten from democratic party tried pushing for release citing past examples: since late 80s at least four times ethics panel showed their work even after people left congress. However committee split down party lines when they voted about this last time (which shows how hard it is to get things done)
The whole thing brings up questions about what happens to ethics probes when someone leaves - does panel still have power over them; should public see results anyway. Right now ten-person committee stays split right in middle with five members from each side having different ideas