Conyers steps down from committee post amid crisis
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers return to Washington today amid widening sexual harassment scandals, as U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the longest serving member in the House, relinquished a powerful committee position and congressional leaders face growing pressure to change rules that force some accusers to remain silent.
The burgeoning crisis, to which leaders of both parties have struggled to respond, couldn’t have landed on Capitol Hill at a more crucially busy time for lawmakers. With less than a month of legislative days before the end of the year, members have a full plate that includes keeping the government from shutting down, addressing the fate of participants in the now rescinded DACA program, addressing destabilization in health care markets and hammering out the GOP tax plan to bring to a final vote before Christmas.
Conyers announced yesterday he would step down as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee amid allegations that he sexually harassed female staffers and committed other misdeeds while in office. He admitted to paying one former staffer $27,000 in a settlement agreement that prevents the accuser from speaking publicly, but he denies allegations of wrongdoing.
“I would like very much to remain as Ranking Member. There is still much work to be done,” Conyers said in a statement yesterday. “But I have come to believe that my presence as Ranking Member on the Committee would not serve these efforts while the Ethics Committee investigation is pending.”
The announcement came soon after House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in an interview that she believed Conyers would “do the right thing” — but also made comments that she would later have to clarify.
In that interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Pelosi called Conyers “an icon in our country.” When asked if she believes Conyers’ accusers, Pelosi responded: “I don’t know who they are. Do you? They have not really come forward.”
In a statement issued a short time later, Pelosi said: “Any credible accusation must be reviewed by the Ethics Committee expeditiously.”
“We are at a watershed moment on this issue, and no matter how great an individual’s legacy, it is not a license for harassment. I commend the brave women coming forward,” Pelosi’s statement said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), facing claims that he groped women before and during his tenure in the Senate, expressed regret in a series of interviews yesterday, but vowed to stay in his post.
“I’m going to do my job and I’m going to go forward,” Franken told Minnesota Public Radio. “I’m going to take responsibility. I’m going to be held accountable and I’m going to try to be productive in the way I speak about this.”
On the Republican side, the reverberations of allegations against Alabama U.S. Senate hopeful Roy Moore are widening the schism between President Trump and congressional Republicans just as the White House pushes to score a win on tax reform.
Trump doubled down on his support for Moore on Twitter, calling his Democratic opponent Doug Jones “a Schumer/Pelosi puppet.”
U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who like nearly every other GOP lawmakers opposes Moore, tweeted yesterday: “After what we know, for Republicans to support Roy Moore over Doug Jones is political tribalism at its worst. We shouldn’t succumb to it.”