Congress' sexual misconduct scandals are forcing House leaders into damage-control mode:

• House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced a bipartisan "partnership" today to overhaul how Congress handles misconduct cases.

‼️ Why it matters: It's a striking acknowledgment from the two top House leaders that the growing wave of allegations consuming Capitol Hill has become an institutional problem.

• Johnson and Jeffries designated the chairs of the Republican and Democratic women's caucuses — Reps. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) — to lead the effort.
• Ledger Fernández said the group wants to address the "procedural and cultural problems that have led to pervasive sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill."

📣 The intrigue: Johnson's decision to leave out the three most vocal lawmakers on the issue — Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) — could cause problems for him.

• Boebert and Luna told us today that they have not been involved in the new effort.
• "Isn't it interesting that they don't want me to be on that since I'm very vocal on it? I don't care, I'm more effective off panels anyways," Luna said.
• "I'm sure at some point I will be involved in it," Boebert said.

🛑 Zoom in: The renewed scrutiny on the Hill intensified after two lawmakers — Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) — resigned last month amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

• Swalwell also faces allegations of sexual assault, which he denies. Gonzales admitted to an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide.

Separately, we first reported today that a young female staffer whom Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) singled out for special attention told another person that she feared retaliation from the congressman.

• Edwards' conduct toward young female aides has prompted a House Ethics Committee investigation. He has denied wrongdoing.
• Johnson called the allegations against Edwards "serious" today and told reporters he had spoken with the lawmaker, who denied the accusations.
• "I am consistent, whether it's a Republican or a Democrat, a friend or foe, we have to allow due process to play out," Johnson said. "We cannot allow mere allegations to be a determining factor here, and that's why we have a House Ethics Committee."

👀 The big picture: Congress is going through its biggest reckoning over workplace culture and sexual misconduct since the #MeToo movement rocked Capitol Hill in 2017 and 2018.

• Pressure has been building on congressional leaders to respond to accusations of sexual misconduct.
• The speaker told reporters last month he would lead the charge to overhaul reforms on how sexual harassment cases are handled in Congress.

🚔 The bottom line: "I didn't come to Congress to be the bedroom police," Boebert told us. "It's really frustrating that this stuff sucks up all the oxygen here."

— Kate Santaliz

Johnson got side-stepped yet again by his own members today on Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions.

• Two Republicans and newly independent Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) gave Democrats the support they needed to force a vote.

Why it matters: It's the sixth time this Congress — and the eighth time during Johnson's speakership — that a discharge petition has reached 218 signatures.

• It may not be the last: Kiley launched his own petition to force a vote on banning mid-decade redistricting, as we first reported.
• Kiley signed a discharge petition filed last year by House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) to force a vote on the Ukraine Support Act.

Zoom out: Congressional leadership has long been able to keep a lid on discharge petitions — a tool used by the minority party as a last-ditch attempt to pass legislation majority leadership opposes.

• But members have gone rogue in the last year on bills to release the Epstein files, extend Affordable Care Act tax credits and allow proxy voting in the House.

The intrigue: Jeffries "has no plans to support" Kiley's petition, spokesperson Christie Stephenson told us.

• Stephenson told us Kiley's bill is "unserious" and "would supercharge partisan gerrymandering in red states while putting Democratic-led ones at a serious disadvantage."
• The bill is identical to one introduced by the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) in the last Congress, Kiley pointed out to us.

Yes, but: Several Democrats told us they would likely sign Kiley's discharge petition anyway, including Reps. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), both of whom have been the target of mid-decade redistricting this cycle.

• Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) "might" still sign on despite Jeffries' opposition, he told us.
• Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), a potential target of redistricting in 2028, said he would "definitely give consideration to it. This is something that I think is an issue that we should be looking at carefully."

— Andrew Solender