Reckoning Action organization targets American misogyny, pushes congressional accountability

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]It's been 5 weeks since California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell resigned from Congress and dropped out of a governor's race in that state that he was leading at the time over allegations of sexual misconduct, which in the moment he denied. You might remember CBS News was the first to speak to some of Swalwell's accusers on camera. This has emboldened more women to come forward to allege harassment by several other US lawmakers. Nancy Cordes has more on a burgeoning effort to support those women. Nancy, good morning. Major, good morning to you.

[00:00:30]What we're seeing is that the women who first sounded the alarm are now teaming up with female lawmakers from both parties. That's important to brainstorm new rules and new legislation, ways to hold members of Congress accountable if they do harass staffers or interns, things like revoking their retirement benefits. The women are also unveiling a new operation called Reckoning Action that will raise money for legal support for women after they come forward and that will work on making it safer for women to share their stories in the first place. The woman spearheading this effort is named Cheyenne Hunt. She's a Democratic social media creator. She served as a conduit for the young women who came forward with their allegations against Swalwell and she says that some of the women who did come forward aren't doing great right now.

[00:01:19]When we talked to a lot of the women who, you know, held these stories of harassment and abuse for so long, part of the problem obviously was the reporting standards in Congress, but another side of the problem was that they have been told over the last decade from their doctors' offices, on social media, from the culture, from the content that they consume, that they are not to be believed.

[00:01:41]Mhm.

[00:01:43]She says that the women who came forward initially feel like their lives, their stories have been scrutinized and it made her realize that these women need to be supported not just before they go public, but afterwards, too. If you want to see the rest of our interview with Cheyenne and learn more about this effort, you can go to the CBS Mornings YouTube page. Eva? Nancy, thank you so much.