CNN
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Republicans on the House Ethics Committee stood with Republican Party leaders in voting not to release the results of their investigation into Donald Trump’s chosen attorney general, Matt Gaetz, despite mounting calls from the Republican Senate to make the findings public ahead of his confirmation hearing.

The Republican Party’s decision to block the findings — against the wishes of Democrats on the panel — raises big questions about what happens to the highly classified information the ethics panel has already collected about Gaetz.

The committee voted to reconvene in December, when Republicans on the panel hope for a final report, according to two people familiar with the discussions. But until then, pressure is mounting at the Capitol to release the report’s contents as Gaetz makes his case directly to Republican senators who will determine his future as attorney general. And with just weeks left in the current Congress, Democrats must now plan their next steps.

Some Democrats are trying to create their own pressure point: Democratic Rep. Sean Casten, who is close to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, announced Wednesday that he would offer a privileged resolution to try to make the report public. Before he could, another Democrat, Rep. Steve Cohen, made a similar attempt to pry the report loose through a vote.

Any member of the House of Representatives can introduce a privileged resolution to force the disclosure of the ethics report by saying it is relevant to the “dignity and integrity” of the House – giving the measure special powers that must be taken into account held. But it still must pass strict procedural rules to reach the floor.

It is unclear whether Cohen – who formally raised his plans on Wednesday – has drafted a measure that will meet these procedural standards. But if it does, Speaker Mike Johnson will be forced to bring it up within two legislative days. But privately, Democrats believe the Republican Party will block the measure so it can’t actually be voted on.

In the meantime, the ethics committee will continue to work on its report, which the panel’s chairman, Rep. Michael Guest, has said is incomplete. The status of the report was a major discussion point during the panel’s two-hour meeting. Although the investigation is complete, lawmakers from both parties have debated whether it is technically complete.

Representative Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the committee, emphasized that her party disagreed with Republicans’ decision not to release the report.