The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards, a North Carolina Republican found to have harassed two female aides on his staff.
The 413-2 vote followed a House Ethics Committee recommendation that Edwards be censured after investigators found he engaged in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” toward the two women.
Immediately after the vote, Edwards stood before the dais as his censure was read aloud while colleagues looked on in the chamber.
A censure represents the strongest punishment the House can impose on a member short of full expulsion from the chamber.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Edwards pleaded with colleagues to “judge me on the facts, not on the inference, insinuation or headlines,” while addressing his fellow members directly.
Edwards apologized to the two staffers, saying “I recognize now that my understanding of those relationships may not have always matched yours,” but insisted “regret is not an admission of sexual harassment.”
The ethics panel found the two women, who had worked with Edwards since his time as a State Senator, faced “increasingly unusual attention” that made them and their coworkers feel uncomfortable.
Edwards had given the staffers numerous gifts including jewelry worth over $1,000, designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop, a cell phone, a KitchenAid mixer, a robotic vacuum, vacations, performance tickets, and private dinners.
The bipartisan committee found no evidence that Edwards propositioned either staffer or engaged in any sexual activity with them during the period under investigation.
Edwards dropped his re-election bid on August 5, following an August 3 Ethics Committee report that formally documented his inappropriate conduct toward the two women.
House censures remain exceptionally rare, with Tuesday’s action marking only the 29th time in history the chamber has imposed the punishment on one of its members.
The last censure before Edwards came in 2025, when Rep. Al Green, a Texas Democrat, was censured for interrupting a joint address to Congress by President Trump.
The Edwards investigation is one of several this Congress involving allegations of sexual misconduct, joining a separate probe into Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a California Democrat, over “inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.”
Gomez has denied the allegations but acknowledged “personal mistakes” outside his marriage, which he described as “consensual in nature,” while the committee’s inquiry continues.
In April, California Democrat Eric Swalwell resigned his House seat and ended a gubernatorial bid amid separate allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, which he also denied.
