Katie Hill was right to resign from Congress. Now she just needs to start taking responsibility for her own choices.
The freshman Democrat gave a forceful farewell speech on the House floor Thursday, decrying the “double standard” that pushed her, a woman in power, out of office. “I’m stepping down, but I refuse to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks, who dare to step into this light, who dare to be powerful,” said Hill, who admitted to carrying out an affair with a female campaign staffer but has denied having a similar affair with her legislative director, Graham Kelly.
“The way to overcome this setback is for women to keep showing up, to keep running for office, to keep stepping up as leaders, because the more we show up, the less power they have,” Hill continued.
Hill is, of course, perfectly entitled to pursue legal action against her “abusive husband,” whom she claims leaked multiple nude photos to the media. If that is true, then she is indeed the victim of a massive invasion of privacy — an invasion that is illegal in 46 states. But just because the photos were wrong doesn’t mean the affairs weren’t.
It might be easier to blame a sexist double standard that it is to admit she improperly dragged subordinates into romantic relationships. But beyond that, Hill’s double standard doesn’t even exist. Multiple congressmen have been pushed out of Congress in just the past few years for sexual misconduct in the workplace. According to the House ethics rules, it already qualifies as sexual misconduct just to have an affair with a subordinate.
Last year, nine members of Congress — four Democrats and five Republicans — stepped down after allegations of sexual misconduct against them became public. These allegations were arguably just as true as the ones leveled against Hill, and the result was the same. Reports surfaced, backlash ensued, and the lawmakers resigned. Repercussions do indeed exist for both parties and both sexes, and it’s a good thing they do. If they didn’t, men like Al Franken and Tim Murphy would still be in office.
Hill now faces the same consequences dozens of lawmakers have faced before her. This isn’t a double standard — it’s the norm.
Hill’s defenders have pointed out that Republican California Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. is still in office in spite of revelations that he pursued relationships with two congressional staffers. But Hunter did this in 2014 and 2015, years before Republicans changed House ethics rules to define such relationships as misconduct. And much more importantly, Hunter is not getting away with anything. He is currently facing a federal indictment on 60 charges, and he has already had his committee assignments taken away by House GOP leaders. They cannot do much more, short of calling for his removal from the House, which would be highly unusual and arguably prejudicial toward his criminal trial.
Moreover, if Hill had been more forceful in resisting Democratic pressure to resign, she would now be in exactly the same boat as Hunter. It was entirely her choice to step down rather than face torrents of perfectly reasonable and withering criticism the way Hunter has and still does.
In some ways, Hill was right: It was because she had a position of power that she was pushed out. Because when you have that kind of authority — the power over someone’s livelihood and career — there are high ethical expectations that come with it. Hill failed to meet those expectations, and she must now face the consequences.
