WASHINGTON – When two of their colleagues faced mounting accusations of sexual assault and misconduct last week, the two most powerful leaders in the House of Representatives – both men – refused to demand their resignations.
Women in Congress weren't having it.
In a matter of days, rank-and-file female lawmakers banded together across party lines to oust Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales. Rather than face being removed from office after embarrassing votes of their peers, the California Democrat and Texas Republican resigned within an hour of each other.
It was a striking demonstration of bipartisan resolve on Capitol Hill. And on the heels of the overwhelming approval of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, it was just the latest example of women legislators teaming up, at odds with the men in charge of Congress, to force accountability for prominent figures accused of hurting women.
As the Swalwell allegations reached a fever pitch, two congresswomen in particular – Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, and Teresa Leger Fernández, a New Mexico Democrat – worked in close collaboration on resolutions to expel him and Gonzales.
