Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) agree on almost nothing. This week, they agreed on something that matters: Congress has a misconduct problem, and nobody inside the institution has been willing to fix it.
Two members of Congress resigned this week, one Democrat and one Republican. Eric Swalwell of California faced accusations from five women, including allegations of rape. Tony Gonzales of Texas admitted to an affair with a staff member, a direct violation of House conduct rules. The staffer later took her own life.
Neither left because the system forced them out. They left because Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) built a bipartisan coalition threatening expulsion and made staying more painful than leaving.
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The House Ethics Committee has existed since 1967 and has jurisdiction to investigate any member for misconduct. In practice, investigations drag for months, findings stay buried, and members resign before consequences ever arrive. Cases basically close before any semblance of accountability can land. When Gonzales admitted to his affair six weeks before resigning, leadership did nothing. It took two congresswomen from opposite parties to force the issue.
The bipartisan momentum is real and growing fast. AOC called the resignations an important turning point but said the work is not done, naming Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) as the next member who should go. Boebert called for stripping both men of their federal pensions.
Luna and Leger Fernandez say they are already scrutinizing Mills and Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), who faces a sentencing hearing for allegedly stealing millions in FEMA funds. Left and right, the message is the same: enough.
The question is whether Congress will build on this moment or let it fade. Earlier this year, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) pushed to force the public release of Ethics Committee sexual misconduct files. The House killed the effort by referring it back to the very committee she was trying to expose. Congress investigated itself and decided it preferred the dark.
Two reforms would change that. First, every Ethics Committee complaint, investigation status, and resolution would be published in real time on a public dashboard. The current process is opaque — sunlight alone would change behavior.
Second, close the pension loophole. Federal law already allows forfeiture for members convicted of felonies related to official duties under the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, but members who resign before investigations conclude effectively escape it entirely. Pension forfeiture should apply automatically upon any felony conviction related to conduct in office, with no exception for members who resign first.
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Luna and Leger Fernandez proved that bipartisan accountability is possible when members decide it matters.
The resignations of Swalwell and Gonzales are a beginning, not a resolution. The system that protected them is still intact. That is what needs to change next.
Tony Vanderhoef is a law student at FSU specializing in legislative and administrative law and a Young Voices contributor whose work on policy and congressional dysfunction has appeared in The Hill and the South Florida Sun Sentinel.