Republican women are gunning for GOP's 'good old boys club'

NBC News reports there a small rebellion brewing among the Republican Party’s cadre of traditionally patient women.

“Republican Rep. Nancy Mace plans to force a House vote next week on her resolution to release sexual misconduct and harassment reports involving members of Congress,” NBC News reported Wednesday.

That resolution, if successful, would require the House Ethics Committee to release all sexual misconduct or harassment reports involving members or their staffers. Prompting Mace’s push is the revelation that Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) sent sexually explicit text messages to a former aide with whom he allegedly had an affair.

That aide later died by suicide.

NBC News reports Mace expressing doubt about whether enough of her GOP comrades would vote in support of her resolution.

“When are we going to start policing our own? We haven’t done that yet because both sides protect each other from embarrassment,” Mace said, while joining a handful of mostly House Republican women in calling for Gonzales to resign.

NBC reports Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) is another woman backing Mace’s effort, saying Tuesday: “I don’t think he brings honor to the House of Representatives and if I had the votes tomorrow, I’d kick him out of office.”

Readers may be surprised to know that — under the Congressional Accountability Act — there is a congressional fund that lawmakers can use to pay legal fees and other services to tamp down or derail sexual harassment or workplace discrimination claims. This fund is in the news now because Luna has now declared war on it, calling it a “slush fund.”

“Congressional ethics is a joke,” Luna posted on X. “They have so much dirt on members of Congress, and they do nothing. There is even a slush fund they use to pay people off with your tax dollars. ... It p—— me off because while some of us are actually working and busting our a----, these clowns are sexually harassing their own staff, doing illegal crap, insider trading etc.”

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) called Gonzales a “disgusting pig” as she departed the Capitol on Wednesday. She also made a point to add that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “should do something about it.”

But Johnson is trying to contend with the one of the most razor-thin Republican House majorities in recent history, and he’s has been unwilling to demand Gonzales resign, despite his texts revealing he appeared to be demanding sexually explicit photos from his aide in a petulant and demanding tone.

The texts were confirmed by an attorney working for the aide’s spouse.

Mace remains furious at the exploitative atmosphere of the House, however, and rants about the measures her male peers have put in place to insulate bad behavior.

“This is a good old boys club, and women that come to work on the Hill need to be respected, whether you’re a member of Congress and a female or you’re a female staffer,” Mace told NBC News. “We all should be treated with respect and with dignity and professionalism, and it shouldn’t be about a quid pro quo or sexual advances. You can’t be doing that, and we’ve got to police our own in order to restore trust in the institution.”