WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee announced Monday it is looking into U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell — though it did not specify what the probe is about.
The Ethics panel is scrutinizing Gooden for a matter that was referred to the committee last month by the Office of Congressional Conduct, an independent entity that investigates misconduct allegations against members of Congress. House rules require the Ethics Committee to publicly announce when it extends a review of any such matter beyond 45 days, though it does not have to disclose any details about the probe. In Gooden’s case, the Office of Congressional Conduct referred its findings to the Ethics Committee on June 10.
Reps. Michael Guest, R-Mississippi, and Mark DeSaulnier, D-California, the committee’s respective chair and ranking member, said in a joint statement that the review does not imply Gooden has violated any rules.
“The Committee notes that the mere fact of a referral or an extension, and the mandatory disclosure of such an extension and the name of the subject of the matter, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” the committee leaders said.
Gooden, a fourth-term representative, said in a statement that the matter is related to spending.
“These are bogus spending allegations perpetrated by dishonest unelected OCC bureaucrats, and as the fifth Texas GOP ally of the President to endure one of these attacks, I am confident the House Ethics Committee will confirm their baseless nature,” he said in a statement to The Texas Tribune.
Several other members of the Texas delegation — including Reps. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, and Troy Nehls, R-Richmond — have been investigated by the committee over potential campaign finance violations. Hunt and Jackson were both cleared by the committee, which found no evidence of intentional misuse of campaign funds for personal benefit. The Ethics Committee has not made its findings in Nehls’ case public or announced any action since it published an Office of Congressional Ethics report about the matter in 2024.
It is not clear what spending is at issue in the probe or whether it is related to Gooden’s use of campaign funds or his House office budget. In 2021, the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Conduct asking the body to investigate stock purchases Gooden appeared to have made.
The House Ethics Committee is comprised of ten members — five Republicans and five Democrats — and is tasked with investigating whether representatives have violated House rules. Two Texans — Reps. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, and Nathaniel Moran, R-Tyler — sit on the secretive panel, whose members do not discuss active reviews. Once investigations are complete, the panel can release reports of its findings and recommend disciplinary action. But the committee is known to be slow-moving.
The Ethics Committee said it will announce its course of action by Nov. 9.
