House considering further sexual harassment reforms: report

The chairman of the House Administration Committee plans to move a bill through the panel that would reverse a law concealing the identities of lawmakers accused of harassment. 

Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) told the Washington Examiner that his committee is working on legislation to reform the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act, which requires settlements to be kept under wraps and allows lawmakers’ offices to use taxpayer money to settle claims.

That legislation could pass through the committee by late January, he said.

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“My goal is that we would have all this resolved and have a markup at the end of January,” Harper told the Examiner, saying that the committee was working to “tear apart” the 1995 law.

The push to undo the Congressional Accountability Act comes as a number of powerful men in politics, business, media and other industries face allegations of sexual misconduct, in some cases going back years or decades.

Sexual harassment in Congress has garnered particular scrutiny in recent weeks after allegations emerged against several lawmakers, including former Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas).

Conyers and Franken announced their resignations from Congress this week. 

Several lawmakers have introduced measures that would rewrite parts of the Congressional Accountability Act.