LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — On the first day of the 2026 legislative session, Nebraska lawmakers were asked Wednesday to consider a motion to expel a fellow senator accused of making sexually suggestive comments to a legislative staffer and inappropriately touching her during an end-of-session party last year.
If lawmakers vote next week to expel Sen. Dan McKeon, 59, a Republican from the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature, it will be the first time that body has ever done so.
The unprecedented move followed an employee's complaint that McKeon said she should “get laid” while on vacation and patted her on the buttocks last May during a party at the Lincoln Country Club attended by state lawmakers, staff and lobbyists.
More attention was focused on sexual harassment in state legislatures all over the country. At least 156 lawmakers in 44 states have been accused of sexual harassment or misconduct since 2017, when The Associated Press began tracking such incidents amid the #MeToo movement. Of these, 56 resigned or were removed from office. Almost the same number of people faced other consequences, such as losing leadership positions in committees or parties.
The report on Nebraska's complaint was compiled by an outside law firm at the request of the Legislature's Executive Council and released Wednesday. It found that McKeon “has a reputation as a jokester and that some of these jokes are unprofessional and/or inappropriate in the workplace.”
The report found that McKeon's conduct did not rise to the level of sexual harassment or retaliation that would trigger liability under state or federal discrimination law, but that did not mean it was acceptable. It says McKeon's conduct does violate the Nebraska Legislature's policy on workplace harassment, and that lawmakers “may have the discretion to censure, reprimand or expel a senator for his conduct and comments.”
After interviewing the woman, McKeon and others, the attorney who wrote the report discovered that the woman, McKeon and another employee were discussing vacation plans at a party on May 29 when McKeon asked if the woman was “going to Hawaii to get laid,” she said. McKeon characterized the remark as a joke in which he said he hoped she would receive a Hawaiian lei while in Hawaii.
“The complainant was not vacationing in Hawaii, so this comment was not consistent with a discussion of vacation plans,” the report states.
The employee also said McKeon patted her on the back. McKeon initially denied touching the woman, the report said, but later said he may have touched her back or lower back “or even her butt” but insisted it was not for sexual gain.
The report also states that following a complaint on June 2, Senator Ben Hansen, chairman of the Executive Council, ordered McKeon not to attend public meetings where employees might be present. Despite this, according to the report, McKeon attended another party that evening that was also attended by employees, including the woman who filed the complaint against him.
Nearly a month later, with Hansen urging him to “take responsibility for what he allegedly did,” McKeon sent the woman a note saying she should find the strength to forgive him “because that's what the Bible teaches people to do,” the report said.
Then, in August, McKeon texted another employee who shares an office with the woman and said she “seemed difficult to work with,” the report said.
An investigation by the Nebraska State Patrol ultimately led to McKeon being charged with disorderly conduct. McKeon has pleaded not guilty.
McKeon, who attended Wednesday's opening session, declined to comment on the report itself. But his remarks about the complaint against him and the possibility of expulsion were consistent with the report's findings: He returned to religious references, saying his name Daniel means “fair” in Hebrew, and remarked that “we are all sinners” when asked about accusations that he often made inappropriate jokes in the workplace.
He said he has no plans to resign, despite calls from leaders in his own party, including Republican Gov. Jim Pillen, to resign. But he seemed willing to acknowledge that he could be forced out, saying he expected any vote by the full Legislature to be “pretty close.”
“It is what it is,” he said. “I'm not going to cry about it or anything.”
The Legislature's Executive Council will hold a hearing Monday on a resolution to expel McKeon. If the committee votes in favor of it, the full Legislature could debate it as early as Tuesday and would require 33 votes to pass.
If McKeon is expelled, he will become the 57th state lawmaker in the country accused of sexual harassment to leave office through expulsion or resignation since 2017.
