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WASHINGTON – A bipartisan House of Representatives committee declined to issue a long-awaited report on the allegations against the president former Rep. Matt Gaetz, WHO President-elect Donald Trump has chosen as the next Attorney General.

The decision was at the center of a heated debate over Gaetz’s candidacy, which faces a steep climb in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson had urged the committee not to release the report, while several Republican senators who will vote on his confirmation have insisted they should have access to it.

The House Ethics Committee had been conducting an investigation in allegations that Gaetz used illegal drugs, engaged in sexual misconduct, misused campaign funds or accepted bribes and gifts.

The Justice Department — which Gaetz would lead if he became attorney general — investigated similar allegations that Gaetz committed statutory rape by paying for sex with a 17-year-old and that she traveled across state lines with him. That investigation was dropped without the Justice Department filing charges against Gaetz.

A lawyer for two women said his clients testified before the House Ethics Committee about the allegations. One said she allegedly saw Gaetz under the influence of drugs and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old, although she said she did not think Gaetz knew the girl’s age. Gaetz has denied the allegations.

Gaetz abruptly resigned from his position in the House of Representatives last Wednesday, just days before the panel planned to release the report on its findings.

The secret committee has no authority over former lawmakers and generally does not release information about investigations once the individual is no longer in office, although there are exceptions.

Democrats on the committee, however, have said the report contains information senators should know as they consider Gaetz’s nomination. Republicans on the ethics panel have been largely silent on their position, but Johnson said last week he would “strong request” they keep it private.

Because all Democrats on the panel agreed on its release, it only took one Republican member to side with them to tip the balance. The panel is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats to maintain neutrality, compared to most committees that have at least one more member from the majority party.

Gaetz is the most controversial candidate for Trump’s cabinet to date. He has a difficult path must be confirmed in the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans 53-47 next year. More than four Republican senators have expressed concerns about his candidacy, and many more have done so privately. If more than four of those Republican lawmakers vote against his nomination, he will not be confirmed as attorney general.

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance is leading Gaetz around the Senate this week to meet with members of the Judiciary Committee, which will be responsible for first vetting his candidacy before a Senate-wide vote. Gaetz also personally called senators to seek confirmation.

Some Trump advisers have also suggested that his nominees would bypass the FBI’s traditional background checks in favor of private investigators, which many Republican senators have opposed. But Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. On Wednesday, the FBI will provide the full dossier of evidence on Gaetz to the panel as it considers the candidate. In a letter to the FBI, Durbin wrote that the Senate is responsible for providing advice and consent on presidential Cabinet picks and “it is critical that we review all information necessary to fulfill this duty.” “The serious public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the federal government,” he wrote. “The unanswered questions about Mr. Gaetz’s alleged conduct are particularly important given that his associate, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to the sex trafficking charge for which Mr. Gaetz was also under investigation.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Matt Gaetz: Ethics committee won’t release report on Trump candidate