Nancy Mace to force vote targeting fellow GOP lawmaker accused of affair with staffer

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., will force a high-profile vote later this week to require the release of sexual harassment reports involving members of Congress.  

Mace said Tuesday that her resolution was drafted in response to recent reports alleging that Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, sent sexually explicit text messages to a former staffer. Regina Santos-Aviles, the one-time aide, later died by suicide in September 2025.

“I mean, literally, this girl killed herself in the most heinous way,” Mace told Fox News Digital when asked if the Gonzales allegations were her motivation for the resolution. “She literally lit herself on fire and died, and we’re just going to sit here and say, ‘Let the process play out?’ No.”

Gonzales has denied the affair and suggested he is being blackmailed by the attorney of Santos-Aviles’ husband. 

“What you have seen is not all the facts, and there’ll be ample time for all of that,” Gonzales told reporters last week.

Mace’s resolution would specifically require the House Ethics Committee to publicly release all records regarding acts of sexual harassment involving lawmakers or their staffers within 60 days of enactment.

The South Carolina lawmaker said on the House floor that she will deem the resolution “privileged,” meaning House leadership will have two legislative days to vote on the measure. Lawmakers could also vote to table the resolution or refer it to committee, a way to kill legislation before having to weigh the measure itself.

Mace said she expected a vote on the House floor by Thursday but voiced pessimism when asked by Fox News Digital if she thought the resolution would succeed.

“No, I’m not optimistic about anything, especially when they just hide everything under the rug,” Mace said. “And if you’re an outspoken woman like I am, well, they’re going to come for you.”

Mace is among a group of conservative lawmakers who have called on Gonzales to resign amid allegations he had an affair with his staffer.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., has called the allegations “really disgusting.” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told reporters last week that Gonzales “needs to go.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has not made any push one way or the other, though he has called the allegations against the Texas lawmaker “very serious” and “alarming and detestable.” The speaker is wrestling with a razor-thin majority and can afford to lose just one defecting GOP lawmaker on party-line legislation.

The Office of Congressional Conduct is expected to send a report on Gonzales to the House ethics panel after the Texas primary elections Tuesday. Under House rules, reports on lawmakers cannot be released within 60 days of an election.

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Gonzales is facing a primary challenge from his right flank, social media influencer Brandon Herrera, who is backed by the conservative House Freedom Caucus’ campaign arm. Herrera lost to Gonzales in 2024 by less than 400 votes.

Mace was one of four House Republicans to advocate for the release of files relating to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A request for comment to Gonzales’ office was not immediately returned.

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