Johnson says he'd support ban on members of Congress dating staffers

WASHINGTON (CN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday offered a blunt view on his support for a formal ban on members of Congress from having romantic relationships with staffers.

“Uh, yeah,” said the top House Republican.

Johnson and other lawmakers are facing renewed questions this week about the conduct of U.S. legislators following new reporting that some members of Congress — on both sides of the aisle — have had ethically questionable relationships with their staff or people working for colleagues on Capitol Hill.

Some in House leadership, including Republican conference chairwoman and Michigan Representative Lisa McClain, have called for a ban on such relationships. And Johnson told reporters during a news conference Tuesday morning that he also thought that would be a good idea.

“I can’t believe it would be acceptable in any situation,” the House speaker said of the reported relationships. “You have members of Congress and their subordinates and staff members — I think it’s inappropriate, as it would be in any workplace.”

Johnson pointed out that employees in other industries must adhere to similar rules about relationships between supervisors and staff.

“We should, at a bare minimum in Congress, have rules and traditions that are adhered to in corporate America,” he said. “So, that’s an easy one for me.”

Axios reported Monday that North Carolina Representative Chuck Edwards gave two young female staffers personalized handguns as gifts. One staffer told the outlet that they only accepted the gift from Edwards, who is already under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, out of fear of “reprisal” from the GOP congressman.

And reports emerged last week that Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, had sexual relationships with two House staffers while he was serving in the House. Gallego, who was unmarried at the time of the reported conduct, has so far declined to comment.

But while Johnson offered his firm support to a ban on relationships between lawmakers and staff, he changed his tune slightly when asked about accusations of domestic violence against Republican members of Congress.

The House speaker demurred on questions about whether Republicans should pressure two lawmakers — Florida Representative Cory Mills and Ohio Representative Max Miller — to step aside given Democrats had taken similar steps with Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner following credible accusations of sexual assault.

“They key word there is ‘allegations,’” Johnson said of Mills and Miller, both accused of domestic violence. “We have a process here: The House Ethics Committee works on those things. If allegations are made, they work through a process.”

The top House Republican said he was “not in the business of commenting” on active investigations. “We’ll see how that shakes out. That’s how this always works.”

The House’s ethics panel is not currently investigating Miller, who is embroiled in a domestic violence lawsuit filed by his ex-wife and daughter of Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno. Documents obtained through records requests show Miller’s former wife has accused him of violence, drug use and verbal abuse, among other things.

The Republican congressman has denied ever being violent against women.

Mills, for his part, is the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe stemming from a reported February 2025 domestic assault incident at the congressman’s D.C. apartment. The lawmaker is also under a restraining order, levied in October 2025 by an ex-girlfriend. Mills has also denied the accusations against him.

The ethics panel, meanwhile, issued a rare statement in May saying that it had devoted “significant resources” to the Mills investigation and that the accusations against him were “serious and complex.”

Congress has found itself under increased ethical scrutiny this year following several high-profile resignations of lawmakers involved in misconduct scandals. Former California Representative Eric Swalwell resigned in the spring amid accusations of sexual assault — he was joined by Texas Representative Tony Gonzales, who admitted to having an inappropriate relationship with a former staffer who later died by suicide.

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