It used to be the sort of thing that would end a congressional career.
In recent days, texts have surfaced that appear to show Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, pressuring one of his employees into a sexual relationship. Months later, that employee died by suicide.
In a more robust majority, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., might demand Gonzales’ resignation. Day by day, more lawmakers are calling on Gonzales to step down. But privately, Republicans and Democrats acknowledge a gross political reality: With his razor-thin majority, Johnson can’t afford to lose Gonzales — or any House GOP member, for that matter.
One House Republican, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal dynamics, said lawmakers are already given “a lot of leeway.” The narrow majority only amplifies that.
“It’s a game of numbers and we’re in a losing battle,” this Republican said. “Anyone who is remotely considering leaving right now would be able to use that as an incredible bargaining chip.”
Another House Republican, also granted anonymity to discuss the dynamics, noted that Republicans can only afford to lose one GOP lawmaker on a party-line vote.
“Leadership right now is scrambling just to do the normal business of the day,” this Republican said.
With Republican Rep. Thomas Massie frequently breaking from his party, this lawmaker added that House GOP leaders functionally can’t afford a resignation.
“They can’t lose a single vote, and so members almost seem untouchable right now,” this lawmaker said.
The “untouchable” status of Republicans has forced Johnson into a tenuous defense of Gonzales.
Asked whether Gonzales should resign, Johnson called the accusations “very serious,” “alarming” and “detestable.” But he stopped well short of calling on him to step down.
“I endorsed Tony before all these allegations came out,” Johnson said Monday. “They’re obviously very serious, and I’ve spoken with him and told him he’s got to address that in the appropriate way with his constituents and all of that. So it’s too early for anybody to prejudge any of that, but we’ll see how it develops.”
(Gonzales’ office did not respond to a request for comment, though Gonzales has consistently denied the affair, calling it “blackmail” and saying this week that he will not resign.)
On Wednesday, Johnson pointed to investigations by the Office of Congressional Ethics and Texas law enforcement, and he noted that Gonzales will appear on the primary ballot next week as he seeks another term.
“These things will play out,” Johnson said. “So we’re allowing that to happen.”
But as the speaker knows well, any investigation could take months — and it’s unlikely to change the facts that are already public.
Johnson has denied that his let-it-play-out posture is tied to the slim House GOP majority. When MS NOW asked the speaker if he wasn’t calling on Gonzales to resign because of the tricky math for Republicans, he was emphatic that the answer is “No.”
Of course, it’s not the first time Johnson has taken this stance.
Last year, an ex-girlfriend of Rep. Cory Mills was granted a protective order against the Florida Republican after she accused him of threatening to release sexually explicit videos of her. It was just the latest accusation of impropriety against Mills, who’s alleged to own a weapons export company while sitting on committees relevant to his business, alleged to have misrepresented his finances in congressional disclosures by tens of millions, and alleged to have hired sex workers while on a rescue mission in Afghanistan in 2021. (Mills has denied all allegations of wrongdoing, including during a phone call with MS NOW Wednesday night.)
But Johnson’s comments on Gonzales echo the stance he took on Mills in October: “I’m going to reserve judgment on that, let the legal process play out,” he said at the time.
The exception is former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. After months of Santos’ lies coming to light, two indictments and a scathing Ethics Committee report, the House finally expelled the New York congressman in December 2023. (Santos frequently denied or made light of the allegations against him, despite clear evidence of his wrongdoing.)
Still, even though the vote was overwhelming, the outcome didn’t come together easily.
Johnson — who was managing another slim majority at the time — opposed ousting Santos, expressing discomfort with the effort before Santos’ criminal case was completed. (Months later, Santos was convicted and sentenced to more than seven years in prison, before President Donald Trump commuted his sentence and excused him from paying restitution to any of his financial victims.)
While the speaker denies that his position on resignations or expulsion is driven by math, some House Republicans say it has politics written all over it.
“He’s making a short-sighted calculation,” Massie, a frequent critic of Johnson, told MS NOW.
Massie claimed that the speaker had already “imperiled the majority in November by keeping or encouraging Gonzales to stay.” And the Kentucky Republican continued that, if the GOP had “a 20- or 30-seat majority,” Johnson would be asking Gonzales to leave.
Another House Republican, granted anonymity to discuss the private sentiment within the conference, told MS NOW that while members have to be held accountable, decisions have to be made with the majority in mind.
“The Gonzales one is a really ugly situation,” this GOP lawmaker said, adding that, “hopefully, as numbers get better,” Republicans can “afford” to hold stricter ethical standards.
“On one hand, you got to be sure that we can govern, and because of the small majorities, you kind of have to let some stuff slide until you can take care of it,” this Republican said. While many GOP lawmakers are privately acknowledging how bad of a look it is for their party to stand by Gonzales, some Republicans were proud to defend him. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told reporters that Gonzales shouldn’t be forced to step down because he hasn’t been indicted for any crimes. The Texas Republican conceded that “the optics are horrible,” but noted that if Gonzales resigned, the majority could slip to Democrats. “If he does that, then you got to give the gavel to Hakeem Jeffries,” Nehls said on Wednesday. “I wouldn’t do that for any reason.” (Nehls had his own scandal in May 2024, when Republican colleagues accused him of “stolen valor” for wearing an active combat lapel pin that had been revoked because Nehls was a civil affairs officer. Nehls disputed the “stolen valor” characterization, but soon after the report, he stopped wearing the pin.) Pressed on whether some matters transcend politics — like sexual harassment in the workplace — Nehls stood firm. “No, not up here,” he said. When MS NOW asked other Republicans about the situation with Gonzales, many shifted the focus to Democrats. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., was indicted in November for stealing FEMA funds, but Jeffries hasn’t called on her to resign. (In a statement at the time, Cherfilus-McCormick said she was innocent and that the indictment was “unjust, baseless” and a “sham.”) Republicans argue it’s a similar situation with Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., who was charged with forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers at a New Jersey immigration center last year. (McIver has said the charges are “purely political.”) Jeffries, for his part, has said Cherfilus-McCormick deserves the presumption of innocence, and he and Democratic leaders blasted the charges against McIver as “morally bankrupt.” But for Republicans, it’s proof of a double standard. “Republicans are wondering if House Democrats will hold their Florida colleague accountable like Republicans ultimately held Santos accountable,” one House Republican told MS NOW. (Notably, when asked on CNN if the Texas Republican should step aside, Jeffries stopped short of calling on Gonzales to resign.) Still, Democrats say comparing Santos to the ethical issues of their members is like comparing apples and beach balls. In the case of Cherfilus-McCormick and McIver, lawmakers are waiting for the legal process to play out. For Gonzales, this is, primarily, a workplace matter. “This is not a due process issue,” Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., told MS NOW. “If you want to talk about, like, if someone’s been accused of a crime, have they been found guilty? That is one set of issues. This is about someone who shows up to work every day and every woman in that office knows what type of person he is.” Casten added that nobody in the Capitol feels unsafe “when LaMonica McIver walks past.” “And yet, every woman around here is going to ask herself, as Tony Gonzales walks past, ‘Why is he looking at me that way?’” For Casten, just like many Republicans, it all comes down to math. He noted that Johnson can’t maintain his House majority unless he keeps “one person accused of domestic abuse by the name of Cory Mills here, and another guy accused of massive sexual harassment by the name of Tony Gonzales here.” “If that’s not a statement about the 119th Congress under Mike Johnson’s leadership,” Casten said, “I don’t know what is.”
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW. Recommended
