👋 With the House back in session after a five-week break, Speaker Mike Johnson can no longer avoid an issue he's skirted all summer: allegations of sexual misconduct in the GOP.

Why it matters: The House will vote tomorrow on censuring Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), putting Johnson and his Republican colleagues in an uncomfortable — and unavoidable — position nine weeks from Election Day.

• 📢 Edwards is demanding an opportunity to defend himself, ensuring that the House's first full day back after its summer break will be about sexual harassment and a hostile work environment — not the legislative accomplishments Johnson wants his members to tout.
• Since our reporting that Edwards singled out two female staffers in their 20s for special attention, Johnson has deferred to the Ethics Committee. But this month, the committee determined that Edwards violated House rules on sexual harassment and recommended his censure.

Between the lines: GOP leadership is not whipping the Edwards vote, leaving Republicans to decide for themselves whether to impose one of the chamber's most serious punishments on their colleague.

Driving the news: Edwards mounted a last-ditch campaign to save himself from censure, circulating a 22-page letter to lawmakers arguing that the committee made an "extraordinary leap" in determining that his conduct constituted sexual harassment.

• But the letter was not well received among his colleagues, two sources told us.
• "Sexual harassment is sexual harassment and deserves to be disciplined accordingly," one House Republican told us. "While most of us are actually fighting for the American people, he was busy creeping on his staff."
• Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told us he's still on the fence on whether to censure Edwards. "We've got several members that are messing around, obviously, and people know it. And I just don't see Congress being the moral barometer for anything really right now."
• Edwards abandoned his reelection campaign this month but has resisted calls to resign.

🌎 Zoom out: It will also be the first time the House has been in session since allegations of domestic violence against Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) exploded into public view. Miller has denied the allegations.

• The Ethics Committee opened an investigation into Miller this month, and some Democrats discussed forcing the House to take action against him, including an expulsion push.

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) lost his primary this month but remains under an active Ethics Committee investigation over allegations that center on domestic abuse, stolen valor and financial misconduct, all of which he denies.

• Johnson has largely deferred to the Ethics Committee when confronted with allegations of misconduct by members of his conference. Asked today whether he supports Miller's reelection campaign, Johnson said yes.

The other side: Democrats also will confront fresh ethical scrutiny within their ranks.

• The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) this month over allegations of sexual misconduct. Democrats have largely stayed quiet on the investigation.

🤔 What's next: The Democratic and Republican women's caucuses are expected to soon unveil their legislative package to tackle sexual misconduct on Capitol Hill.

• Potential reforms under discussion include changes to reporting systems, retaliation protections, increases in education and training resources, and a ban on lawmaker-staff relations.

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— Kate Santaliz and Hans Nichols

Reproductive Freedom for All is launching a $250,000 campaign targeting Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) over her role in confirming a key member of the Supreme Court majority that overturned Roe v. Wade, we've learned.

Why it matters: Collins is facing Maine voters for the first time since the fall of Roe — putting her pivotal 2018 vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh back at the center of one of the country's most competitive Senate races.

• Collins, who has long described herself as supportive of abortion rights, told reporters this summer that she does not regret voting to confirm Kavanaugh.

🚗 Driving the news: Reproductive Freedom for All and Senate Majority PAC are launching a $250,000 direct-mail campaign tomorrow that will reach more than 100,000 Maine households, according to details first shared with us.

• 📪 The mailers will target women who support abortion rights and will accuse Collins of breaking her promise to protect reproductive freedom by voting to confirm Kavanaugh.
• They also highlight Collins' votes to confirm more than 100 Trump-appointed judges.
• The effort is part of Reproductive Freedom for All's $23.5 million "My Body. My Ballot" campaign.

The other side: "These partisan groups just don't know what to do about Maine. First, they had to rationalize supporting Graham Platner," said Blake Kernen, a spokesperson for Collins.

• "Now they are stuck with Troy Jackson.… Meanwhile, Susan Collins has always been pro-choice and a champion for Maine women."

🖼️ The big picture: The effort comes as Democrats are trying to regain their footing in the pivotal race following Graham Platner's exit.

• Platner's campaign had been engulfed by rape allegations, complicating Democrats' ability to attack Collins on issues affecting women.
• Women made up roughly 3 in 5 voters during Collins' 2020 reelection, when she narrowly carried the group over Democrat Sara Gideon, according to CNN exit polling.
• 💬 Republicans are trying to keep Platner in the conversation, tying Democratic nominee Troy Jackson to his former rival.

🔎 Zoom in: Reproductive Freedom for All CEO Mini Timmaraju acknowledged that the Platner saga was a "distraction" that delayed Democrats' ability to consolidate around a candidate.

• But during a recent trip to Maine to campaign for Jackson, Timmaraju said, she found women eager to move on. "I didn't hear Platner one time," she told us. "Folks are so ready to turn the page."

Yes, but: Jackson opposed abortion rights earlier in his political career and supported some abortion restrictions before reversing his position.

• Jackson has since said he was "wrong" and has spent roughly the last decade supporting abortion rights, including co-sponsoring legislation in 2023 that expanded abortion access in Maine.

— Kate Santaliz