The House of Representatives voted 413 to 2 on Tuesday to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., after a House Ethics Committee investigation concluded he engaged in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers.” Only Edwards and Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., voted against the resolution.
The vote came weeks after the bipartisan Ethics Committee, chaired by Edwards’ fellow Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, released a report detailing lavish gifts and trips, the reading of a poem to one of the staffers, a visit to a staffer’s home to perform chores, late-night personal texts, and a trip to a casino, among other interactions.
Guest told the House floor that investigators did not find evidence Edwards engaged in sexual activity or explicitly propositioned the staffers, but said his conduct “was inappropriate and violated rules prohibiting sexual harassment” and created a hostile work environment.
“The committee found that Representative Edwards was, at a minimum, blind to the reality and at worst dismissive of the impact his conduct had on the career and well-being of the women on his staff,” Guest said.
Edwards ended his bid for re-election two days after the report’s release. Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, he told Fox News Digital, “They’ll make their argument, and I’ll make mine,” arguing that the Ethics Committee had abandoned “its own rules” in handling his case.
On the House floor, Edwards apologized to the two staffers, his wife and his family, but disputed the committee’s findings, accusing the panel of cherry-picking context to fit a narrative. He said his regret was “not an admission of sexual harassment.”
“Generosity is not sexual harassment. Caring deeply about the people with whom you’ve worked for years is not sexual harassment,” Edwards said. “And conduct that is otherwise permissible does not automatically become misconduct, simply because enough individual moments are assembled together and viewed through the darkest possible ends.”
His argument did not sway his colleagues. The entirety of House Republican leadership voted for the censure resolution.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., who chairs the Democratic Women’s Caucus, said Edwards’ response to the findings showed he does not grasp the seriousness of what occurred.
“Since he continues to show no remorse, it’s obvious that Edwards refuses to understand sexual harassment or his abuse of power,” Leger Fernández said. “If we don’t take action today, there is no opportunity for these women to receive justice.”
Edwards is now the 30th member of the House to be censured. The penalty amounts to a formal public rebuke and does not require him to give up his seat.
The vote follows a string of misconduct cases in Congress this year. Former Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales both resigned on the same day earlier this year — Swalwell after allegations of rape and sexual assault, and Gonzales after being accused of sexual misconduct with a former staffer and admitting to an affair with staffer Regina Santos-Aviles, who later died by setting herself on fire. Both had faced the rare threat of expulsion.
