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Deutch leads panel tasked with examination of Gaetz.
If Congress does anything about the maelstrom of accusations surrounding north Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, it will come from the House Ethics Committee, which is chaired by South Florida U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday that the Gaetz situation is a matter for the Ethics Committee, which has the politically tricky task of investigating and rendering judgments about members of the House.
Pelosi tapped Deutch, a Broward-Palm Beach County Democrat, as chairman of the committee when Democrats took control of the House in 2019, citing his “towering integrity and firm commitment to fairness and justice.” He’s currently serving his second term as chairman.
Before that, he’d served as the top Democrat on the panel, where he played a role in helping craft reforms in the way Congress handles cases of sexual harassment.
Serving on the Ethics Committee is considered by some in Congress as a thankless assignment because it involves sitting in judgment of fellow representatives for their alleged misdeeds.
The Ethics Committee is unusual, in that it is bipartisan and quiet about its work. It is made up of five members from each party. It enforces rules regarding gifts, travel, financial disclosure, outside income, and other activities of members of Congress, its officers and employees.
The committee can recommend punishments ranging from a reprimand, or formal rebuke, to expulsion, which is rare partly because lawmakers often resign first. The full House would have to approve such actions, with expulsion requiring a two-thirds majority.
Gaetz, a Republican from Florida’s Panhandle, is being investigated by the Justice Department over allegations of a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. He has denied the allegations.
If they turn out to be true, Pelosi said, his removal from the House Judiciary Committee “is the least that could be done.” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday that if the allegations were proven, Gaetz would be removed from his positions on the Judiciary and Armed Services committees.
In her weekly news briefing on Thursday, Pelosi also said, “From what we’ve heard so far, this would be a matter for the Ethics Committee.”
Deutch has served in the House since 2010. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee and chairman of the subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Global Counterterrorism.