The Republican-led House has voted to censure outgoing Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., after a months-long investigation by the ethics committee into allegations he sexually harassed two young female staff members.
The vote on Tuesday was 413 to 2. A censure, which is tantamount to public shaming on the House floor, is the strongest punishment the House can adopt against a member short of expulsion.
Edwards has denied the allegations, but ended his reelection bid after the House Ethics Committee posted their investigative findings last month.
Speaking from the House floor ahead of the censure vote, Edwards pleaded with his colleagues to “judge me on the facts, not on the inference, insinuation or headlines.”
He apologized to the two staffers at the center of the investigation, saying, “I recognize now that my understanding of those relationships may not have always matched yours.” He insisted, however, that “regret is not an admission of sexual harassment.”
The House Ethics panel recommended the censure as part of an Aug. 3 report on their investigation — a report that determined he “engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.”
The committee found he created a hostile work environment, citing “substantial evidence” he “violated the spirit of the House’s prohibition on sexual harassment and unwanted advances.”
The committee said Edwards gave the staffers gifts that included jewelry totaling over $1,000, designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and cell phone, a KitchenAid mixer, vacations and one-on-one-dinners.
“A Member of Congress should not single out a staffer and isolate them from other staff, make frequent comments regarding that person’s appearance and weight, send messages in the middle of the night, text staff deeply personal and seemingly romantic thoughts, intrude on personal occasions without invitation, pay for personal vacations, and spend thousands of dollars on gifts for staffers,” the report said. “That Representative Edwards did all these things to two young staffers, repeatedly over a sustained period, was beyond inappropriate.”
Edwards addressed the spending in his remarks Tuesday, saying “generosity is not sexual harassment.”
The bipartisan committee said it did not find evidence Edwards propositioned his staffers or engaged in sexual activity with them. However, the committee said Edwards appeared to not understand this didn’t insulate him from sexual harassment claims.
House censures are rare. Before Tuesday’s vote, the punishment has been doled out just 28 other times. The last, in 2025, was to Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, for interrupting a joint address to Congress by President Trump.
Multiple investigations
The investigation into Edwards was one of several for the ethics committee this Congress involving allegations of sexual misconduct, assault or other improprieties.
Last month, the committee announced it was investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif. That included “inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.” Gomez has denied the allegations, but has acknowledged “personal mistakes” outside his marriage, which he described as “consensual in nature.”
In April, Democrat Eric Swalwell of California resigned his House seat and ended a gubernatorial bid amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that he too denied. Texas Republican Tony Gonzales also resigned from the House after admitting to an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide.
Republican Reps. Max Miller of Ohio and Cory Mills of Florida have also faced House Ethics investigations tied to domestic violence allegations. Both have denied the claims.
Miller, who is facing a difficult re-election fight, said he requested the probe in the midst of a child custody fight with his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio. Mills lost his bid for another term when he was defeated last month by a GOP primary challenger.
