Senator Hawley wants to prevent lawmakers convicted of sex crimes from receiving their taxpayer-funded retirements after leaving office. He introduced new legislation to close a gap in federal law that strips pensions for some felonies, but not sexual abuse.
This comes as Congress is having another wake-up over their members’ actions after sexual misconduct and rape allegations last month against two House lawmakers resulted in their back-to-back resignations.
Current Law
Lawmakers are required to forfeit their pensions if convicted of a felony, including fraud, treason, bribery, and perjury.
Proposition
Lawmakers should never be compensated with taxpayer dollars after such a breach of trust. Hawley said,
The only thing the government should be paying for, for these people, is a jail cell [1].
His legislation comes following the bombshell allegations against former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-California, and former Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who resigned from Congress just moments before Swalwell did, after admitting to an affair.
Current Pensions
Currently, Swalwell could earn $22,000 per year in taxpayer funding starting at age 62. Gonzalez could earn over $8,000 annually when he turns 62. ANd the taxpayers pay the bill.
Hawley is trying to stop this funding.
Notes:
- ^Miller, A. (2026). Sex crimes could cost lawmakers taxpayer-funded pensions under Hawley’s new proposal. (go back ↩)
