The beleaguered House Ethics Committee is pleading for more resources amid its toughest stretch in years — and leaders say they're eager to help.

🚔 Why it matters: Pressure is growing on Congress to prove it can self-police on lawmaker misconduct. The 10-member Ethics Committee can't keep up.

• The panel's investigations can sometimes take years to issue formal reports or disciplinary recommendations.
• Ethics has investigated 20 cases of sexual misconduct since 2017, but in many instances, members resigned before the panel released its findings.

Zoom in: Two lawmakers resigned last month amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

• Another two are under Ethics investigations for alleged sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. Reps. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) and Cory Mills (R-Fla.) both deny wrongdoing.

💰 Between the lines: House Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) told us last month that his committee needs more resources to "move matters more quickly."

• One specific ask: Guest wants a conversation with party leaders about bringing the Office of Congressional Conduct under the House Ethics umbrella, giving the committee access to its staff.

🚨 Speaker Mike Johnson told us today: "That committee is very busy right now."

• "We'll dedicate whatever resources are necessary to ensure the House Ethics Committee does its job as it should," Johnson told us.
• "There's lots of allegations flying around, so we'll make sure that they have everything they need to get the job done," he added.

⏩ The big picture: Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced a bipartisan "partnership" on Wednesday to overhaul how Congress handles misconduct cases.

• The two top leaders tapped 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.
• Cammack told us in an interview today: "We all are in agreement, Ethics moves too slow, and I would agree that Chairman Guest has the right idea that they are under-resourced, and that limits their ability to move quickly with these investigations."
• The task force will hold its first meeting next Friday to start discussing possible reforms. Cammack said she hopes to get reforms done before the midterms.

💸 Democrats signaled that their party would make revitalizing the Ethics Committee a top priority if they win back control of the House in November.

• Jeffries "would ask members on the committee, Democrats and Republicans, what they need to do the job and he would try to give them the resources to do the job," said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), the chair of the House Democratic caucus.
• Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations subcommittee that doles out funding to the legislative branch, told us he "would give them more resources."

👎 The other side: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), one of the loudest voices demanding accountability in Congress, told us she doesn't support giving Ethics more resources.

• "I think that they can do plenty of work that just requires them to actually sit down and make that a priority," she said.
• "I did it for free. I was more effective and didn't have to wait six years."

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— Kate Santaliz and Andrew Solender