A GOP 'MeToo' moment? Not yet

WASHINGTON — As most Republicans avoided questions last month about allegations Rep. Tony Gonzales had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide, three GOP women made their demands clear: their colleague has to go.

Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Anna Paulina Luna of Florida each used their social media platforms to build pressure for the Texas Republican’s ouster. They also issued a broader call — it was time to unmask other sexual misconduct in Congress, they said.

The push started to look like the beginnings of another MeToo movement, where women advocated for institutional change around workplace sexual harassment.

But this moment lacked a key aspect: widespread support.

“MeToo was hundreds of thousands of folks who were standing up for women who came forward,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “This is a handful of women.”

Just a few other GOP lawmakers joined them in calling on Gonzales to leave the House, most of them already known for bucking leadership. And Mace found scant support for her legislation aimed at publicly releasing House Ethics Committee files.

In an era when stepping out of line with President Donald Trump has swift consequences, a congressional groundswell is hard to come by. One of those who joined the trio, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is facing a tough primary challenger backed by Trump. Safety is also a real concern for those who break ranks, as threat cases against lawmakers increased again in 2025, according to Capitol Police.

It’s even more challenging to rally support as a woman — a minority in the Republican Party, Walsh said.

“When you are a minority, it’s harder to speak up, and then to speak up in an era where the consequences for speaking out … there’s no grace,” she said. “That’s the atmosphere that these women are living in.”

Walsh pointed to former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who resigned after falling out of good graces with Trump and House GOP leadership. On her way out, Greene told “60 Minutes” that women in the party are “marginalized.”

“Typical of Republican men telling a woman to ‘shut up get back in the kitchen and fix me something to eat,’” Greene wrote in a post in November. She told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year that the GOP is a “good old boys club.”

“She spoke out and clearly paid a price,” Walsh said.

The Gonzales case

There was another sticking point in rallying support to kick out Gonzales — doing so would whittle down the Republican majority in the House even further, which Johnson couldn’t risk. When asked about leaked text messages that appeared to show an inappropriate relationship, Johnson said it was “very serious” but brushed it off as something Gonzales should address “with his constituents.”

Mace, Luna and Boebert continued to post on their social media accounts.

“Tens of millions of dollars have been paid out over the years here in Congress to keep staffers quiet about alleged sexual misconduct,” Boebert said in a video she reposted. “I would love to find out about every member who has ever had to pay a settlement to a staffer.”

The Ethics Committee officially opened an investigation into Gonzales a week later, and he admitted on a podcast to making a “mistake” in the relationship with his staffer. Soon after, leadership called on Gonzales to drop his reelection bid, and he acquiesced.

But it wasn’t quite the win they were looking for. Mace said that dropping his bid is “nothing more than a slap on the wrist compared to the accountability he should be facing.”

What’s more, instead of backing Mace’s resolution that would release files held by the Ethics Committee, the House voted to refer it to the committee, essentially killing it. Although Florida Rep. Kat Cammack and a few other GOP women voiced support for the measure, others steered clear.

“The swamp stays swampy,” Cammack posted. “As one of the few who voted to release these reports, I am disappointed in the lack of transparency.”

Democrats who opposed it cited concerns it could harm survivor and witness confidentiality and have a chilling effect on reports. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said on X the “idea is good but the text itself was rushed and not thought through.”

“I think it’s disgusting how this institution protects itself, because … just half of them voted to send this stuff to House Ethics, where you know it’s going to die,” Luna said of the Mace resolution at a hearing. “We just had a member of Congress literally sexually harass someone that then lit herself on fire, and you guys all protected him.”

Still siloed

But the resolution and social media push behind it brought up real questions about how ethics investigations are handled in Congress — it’s a common phrase that the Ethics Committee is where investigations “go to die.”

When the House punted on an attempt to censure Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., after his ex-girlfriend was issued a protective order against him, Luna called congressional ethics “a joke.”

“They have so much dirt on members of Congress, and they do nothing,” she continued.

When asked about the reputation of the Ethics Committee, Johnson said it is “certainly not the case” that investigations die with the panel. “They do investigations as quickly and efficiently and effectively as they can. We have good leadership there,” he said.

Mace, for her part, said she sees her social media platform as an incentive for members to “do the right thing” during floor votes. “The only reason that anything I do gets paid attention to is because of the platform I have.”

Between Boebert’s public personal and congressional X accounts, she has more than 6 million followers. Mace’s combined accounts have well over a million, as do Luna’s. By comparison, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., the only woman in House GOP leadership, has roughly 85,000 across her public accounts.

But having such an outspoken brand on social media can also work against coalition building. Mace, for example, frequently posts about Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., the first openly transgender member of Congress, insisting she is a man and accusing her of “grooming kids.”

Their reputations as far-right firebrands make it politically complicated for both Democrats and Republicans to associate with them, Walsh said.

“It’s not to say that they aren’t speaking out because they really believe this and for the right reasons,” she added. “That’s why you need a bigger ‘n’ (variable), so that the association around this issue is not only associated with people that are seen as complicated and problematic on both sides of the aisle.”

Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina and has herself attracted the attention of the Ethics Committee over reimbursement allegations, said she intends to “stay focused” on holding members of Congress accountable.

“And as a woman, I got to tell you, I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen in this place,” she said. “The minute that you speak out as a woman, they come after you. So I say, ‘Bring it on.’”

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