House backs Massie's push to release taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlement records
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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!The House of Representatives overwhelmingly backed a measure Tuesday that would force the disclosure of lawmakers who used taxpayer funds to settle sexual harassment claims.
The resolution, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., would require the House Ethics Committee to "preserve and publicly release" records related to monetary settlements involving sexual misconduct.
Massie, a frequent thorn in House GOP leadership's side, forced a vote on the resolution, arguing that gaps in reporting requirements enacted in 2018 may still allow taxpayer-funded settlements to remain hidden.
The Kentucky lawmaker said he discovered there were no reported cases involving any members repaying sexual harassment settlements since then.
Rep. Thomas Massie forced a vote on the transparency-focused measure on Tuesday. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu)
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His resolution would specifically direct the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights to publicly report sexual misconduct cases involving lawmakers and their staff that resulted in taxpayer-funded settlements, along with the total amount of taxpayer money spent.
"We need to know what's been going on here in the House of Representatives in order to convince the people and assure the people that we are conducting the people's business with the utmost integrity and treating offices and employees of this institution with the respect they serve," Massie said.
The final vote was 420-0-1. No lawmaker spoke against the resolution during debate on the House floor.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., was the lone lawmaker to vote "present," arguing Tuesday's vote was "nothing more than political theater" after she released information earlier this year showing the federal government paid out more than $330,000 to settle sexual harassment claims since the early 2000s.
"Now Congress wants to vote on doing what we already did," the South Carolina Republican wrote on social media.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., was the lone lawmaker to vote "present," calling Massie's resolution "political theater." (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Mace, who helped orchestrate a transparency push targeting lawmakers’ behavior toward women amid several high-profile resignations, subpoenaed the Congressional Office of Workplace Rights through her position on the House Oversight Committee for a bevy of settlement documents involving at least six lawmakers or their offices.
Former Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, who resigned in disgrace in 2018 amid a House ethics probe into sexual misconduct allegations, was among the lawmakers named in the documents.
Former Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., who similarly resigned in 2018 amid reports he used taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment suit filed by a former staffer, was also listed.
Ten lawmakers did not vote, as the chamber was scheduled to begin the July 4 recess immediately following the vote amid a conservative blockade of the House floor in protest of the stalled SAVE America Act.
The resolution’s passage comes after Cynthia West, a former Massie girlfriend, accused the Kentucky lawmaker of emotional abuse in May. West also alleged that Massie attempted to pay her $5,000 to drop a wrongful termination lawsuit against the office of Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., who fired her shortly after taking a position in the office.
Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., stand at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on July 3, 2025. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg)
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The House in March rejected a resolution offered by Mace to require the House Ethics Committee to release all documents compiled by the panel involving probes into members of Congress related to sexual misconduct.
These Whiskies From One of Scotland’s Underrated Distilleries Are the Perfect Summer Sippers
By Jonah FlickerJonah Flicker
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Fettercairn
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Robb Report may receive an affiliate commission.
Whiskey brands and distilleries make a lot of claims about how they taste, but sometimes it’s all about the power of suggestion. Did you really taste Christmas cake and treacle as you sipped that single malt? Do you even know what those things taste like? In the case of this new pair of whiskies from Fettercairn, however, the claims hold true—these two single malt scotches are bursting with tropical fruit notes, making them perfect summer sippers.
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Fettercairn, a Highland distillery that is owned by Whyte & Mackay along with the Dalmore and Jura, is relatively new in the U.S. The distillery has been around for about two centuries, but the whisky only became available here last year with the launch of 24 and 28-year-old whiskies, the latter of which we found to be exceptional. It’s less common for a whisky to launch with higher age-statement expressions like these, although certainly not unheard of, but at the time a rep for the brand said younger expressions would follow. Well, they have arrived in the form of 12 and 16-year-old single malts, both of which are full of bright, fruity notes that will appeal to both newbies and seasoned whisky vets.
The distillery attributes its whisky’s tropical fruit character to the way in which it is distilled and cooled. There is a copper cooling ring near the top of the still that Fettercairn says means only the lightest vapors rise to the top, and those are said to contain the particular flavors that define the new make spirit and carry over through many years of maturation. “That process gives us a beautifully light, tropical spirit to work with, and from there, it’s about shaping that character with care—preserving its freshness while building texture and complexity through maturation,” said distillery manager Stewart Walker in a statement.
WATCHIf these technical details are a bit beyond your pay grade, try the whisky for yourself to see what you taste. The 12-year-old is aged entirely in ex-bourbon barrels and bottled at 46 percent ABV with natural color and no chill filtration. Look for notes of pineapple, banana, mango, vanilla, citrus, and ginger on the palate. The 16-year-old, also naturally colored and without chill filtration, was also aged in ex-bourbon barrels and bottled at a slightly higher 46.4 percent ABV. There’s a bit more oak on the palate here, as you might expect, along with notes of papaya, ripe pear, green apple, custard, cinnamon, and milk chocolate.
Both the 12 (SRP $55) and the 16 (SRP $90) were released in late spring and are available to purchase now from retailers around the country and at websites like Total Wine. And you can still find the excellent (and expensive) 24 and 28-year-old whiskies at websites like ReserveBar.
Authors
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Jonah Flicker
Flicker is currently Robb Report's whiskey critic, writing a weekly review of the most newsworthy releases around. He is a freelance writer covering the spirits industry whose work has appeared in…
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14 House Republicans vote down procedural rule over 'SAVE America Act,' halting week's legislative calendar
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
4:00 PM – Tuesday, June 30, 2026
A coalition of fourteen House Republicans paralyzed the legislative floor on Tuesday, tanking a procedural vote and forcing GOP leadership to abruptly scrap the week’s legislative calendar.
The coalition, led by Representatives Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas), choked off legislative business as conservative holdouts dug in on demands for stricter federal voting regulations — specifically targeting the passage of the SAVE America Act.
The full list of the 14 Republicans includes:
- Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) — Coalition co-leader
- Chip Roy (R-Texas) — Coalition co-leader
- Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.)
- Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.)
- Eric Burlison (R-Mo.)
- Eli Crane (R-Ariz.)
- Randy Fine (R-Fla.)
- Andy Harris (R-Md. )
- Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)
- Max Miller (R-Ohio)
- Keith Self (R-Texas)
- Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.)
- Mike Turner (R-Ohio)
- Steve Scalise (R-La.) — Voted “no” strictly for procedural routing
The immediate casualty of the intraparty disagreement was a $1.15 trillion defense spending bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had engineered a plan to merge the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with the SAVE America Act, packaging the conservative voting priorities into a must-pass piece of legislation before sending it to the upper chamber.
However, the faction rebelled against this strategy, sinking the routine procedural rule vote 224–198.
Luna described the leadership’s legislative bundling as a “procedural head fake,” arguing that merging the bills would make it far too easy for the Senate to simply strip the election provisions out during conference negotiations.
Instead, Luna and like-minded House members demanded that the voting regulations — including mandatory photo ID and documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections — be written directly into the base text of the NDAA via amendment, thus making it legally harder to unravel.
Analysts say that the legislative standoff represents a massive bottleneck for the thin Republican majority, where Speaker Johnson can only afford to lose three votes on party-line measures.
Notably, this procedural loophole allows Republican leadership to bring the rule back to the floor for reconsideration at a later date without being forced to send the massive defense package back to the House Rules Committee.
Confronted by an unyielding wall of opposition, GOP leadership admitted defeat just hours after the failed vote, canceling all remaining legislative business for Wednesday and Thursday. Lawmakers were sent home for an early Fourth of July holiday recess, postponing any further action on the defense bill or pending appropriations measures until the House reconvenes on July 13th.
A visibly frustrated Speaker Johnson defended the derailed defense package, noting that it contained roughly 65 of the Trump administration’s core priorities and executive orders (EOs). Johnson lamented that a handful of his own members chose to halt very important progress because of their grievances with Senate Democrats.
Meanwhile, thee ultimate destination for the SAVE America Act remains highly contentious.
While the bill represents a core pillar of the Trump administration’s platform, it faces friction in the upper chamber. Even if the House successfully advances the measure, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has struggled to gather the necessary support to cross the 60-vote filibuster threshold, with several Senate Republicans joining Democrats to vote against the measure in a recent 48–50 vote.
As the House enters a multi-week cooling-off period, Johnson indicated he would use the recess to regroup and work on the holdouts, though hardliners have pledged to block all subsequent floor traffic until their strict voting integrity parameters are met.
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