Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, has named several former members of Congress she alleges were involved in efforts to conceal misconduct allegations through confidential settlements tied to congressional workplace funds.
Her claims, made on social media and through references to House Oversight Committee records, center on what she describes as long-standing internal settlement practices in Congress.
Mace cites congressional records in public claims
According to Mace, she reviewed more than 1,000 pages of House Oversight Committee documents that she says detail how certain lawmakers used internal settlement mechanisms to resolve sexual scandal allegations privately.
She said the records cover roughly the last 22 years, and she further claimed that older documentation may no longer exist.
In a series of posts on X, Mace named several former lawmakers she alleges were connected to settlement agreements or misconduct-related disputes.
The individuals she cited include former Republican Reps. Rodney Alexander, Blake Farenthold, and Patrick Meehan, along with former Democratic Reps. Eric Massa and John Conyers, as well as references tied to the office of former Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy.
Some of the individuals named are no longer in Congress, and several have died. The claims have not been accompanied by detailed documentation made public by Mace beyond her descriptions of the material she reviewed.
Allegations focus on past settlement practices
Mace’s allegations focus on what she describes as the use of taxpayer-funded or congressionally administered settlement systems that allowed sexual misconduct complaints to be resolved outside public view.
She argues that this system enabled lawmakers to avoid accountability while complaints were handled internally.
Congress has historically used internal administrative offices to process workplace disputes, including harassment and misconduct claims.
These systems have changed over time, particularly after reforms were introduced to increase transparency and reduce secrecy in settlements involving congressional staff and members.
Mace has not provided evidence of new wrongdoing by current lawmakers in connection with her latest claims, but she has used the issue to renew calls for broader accountability measures within the House of Representatives.
Current tensions in Congress
The allegations come at a time of heightened political tension in Washington under President Donald Trump’s administration, with Republicans and Democrats continuing to clash over ethics standards, oversight authority, and internal disciplinary procedures in Congress.
Mace has been one of several lawmakers pushing for stricter accountability rules for members of Congress. She has previously supported measures targeting colleagues accused of misconduct, arguing that Congress has failed to adequately police its own members.
Her renewed focus on historical settlement cases has added pressure on House leadership to address transparency concerns. However, congressional officials have not issued any public confirmation of wrongdoing related to the specific claims she raised.
In a separate post, Mace alleged that all records prior to 2004 were destroyed, suggesting a gap in documentation that she says obscures the full history of how complaints were handled.
She further said the materials she obtained through a subpoena include nine former members of Congress and detailed settlement figures tied to individual cases.
Mace has pledged to release the full set of documents once personally identifiable information for victims and witnesses is redacted, saying taxpayers funded what she described as a system used to silence complaints.
