The scandal has prompted calls for Congress to rethink how it handles misconduct allegations. Pressure and public shaming for the two congressmen, after all, is not the same thing as true accountability, said Fatima Goss Graves, the chief executive of the National Women’s Law Center, which runs a legal fund helping sexual harassment victims file cases.

“When you’re talking about something as serious as the allegations that have been made, they’re worthy of a process that is clear, that is transparent, that is consistent, that is fair,” she said. “So it isn’t left up to bipartisan agreement.”