On Thursday, the Republican leadership in Congress said Gonzales should end his re-election campaign.
“We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues,” said a joint statement from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and congresswoman Lisa McClain.
On Wednesday, the married father-of-six confirmed he had had a relationship with married staff member Regina Santos-Aviles.
Gonzales had previously dismissed the allegations as “blackmail” and a “co-ordinated” attack to unseat him.
Hours before his admission, the House Ethics Committee announced it was launching an investigation into whether Gonzales “engaged in sexual misconduct” towards one of his employees.
Regina Santos-Aviles died in September 2025, after setting herself on fire near her home in Uvalde, Texas. The medical examiner ruled her death a suicide, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
Gonzales told conservative podcaster Joe Pags in an interview released on Wednesday that Santos-Aviles’ death had nothing to do with the affair, saying she was “thriving” at work.
“I had absolutely nothing to do with her tragic passing,” he said. “And, in fact, I was shocked just as much as everyone else.”