Nebraska Executive Board Hears LR 282 Calling for Expulsion of Sen. Dan McKeon; Investigator Recommends Remedial Measures

The Nebraska Legislature’s Executive Board heard invited testimony on Legislative Resolution LR 282, which recommends expelling Senator Dan McKeon for alleged violations of the Legislature’s workplace harassment policy. Chair Sen. Ben Hansen said the special personnel panel’s independent investigation substantiated a sexually suggestive remark and unwelcome physical contact at a staff-related event and that the Executive Board had unanimously recommended expulsion to the full Legislature.

The investigator retained by the special personnel panel, Tara Paulson, summarized her formal inquiry and its findings. "The evidence established that Senator McKeon made a comment containing sexual innuendo to a legislative employee at a sign‑out party on May 29, 2025, and that he engaged in unwelcome physical contact," Paulson told the committee, adding that McKeon later sent a text describing the complainant as "seems to be difficult to work with." Paulson said she interviewed five witnesses, including the complainant and the accused, and submitted a written report to the panel on Oct. 27, 2025. She concluded McKeon’s conduct violated the Legislature’s workplace harassment policy and recommended remedial steps — including supervised external training on discrimination, a written no‑contact directive, relocation of McKeon’s office, prohibitions on physical contact with staff and enforcement and review procedures — while noting those policy violations did not, in her legal analysis, meet the statutory threshold for an actionable hostile‑work‑environment claim under federal or state law as of the date of her report.

Defence counsel Perry Persch, representing Senator McKeon, urged the board to require greater procedural safeguards before upholding an expulsion. "If we are going to take the extraordinary step of expulsion, we should be certain the accused senator has been told in full what the case is, has had a fair chance to respond, and the public can see the basis for the decision," Persch said, arguing that some allegations cited in LR 282 remain confidential and untested and that expulsion should be reserved for cases where the record is clear. Persch listed proportional alternatives the board could adopt short of expulsion: public censure, loss of committee assignments, enforceable written directives (including event‑attendance rules), verified training programs, and continued physical separation.

Committee members pressed both witnesses on specifics. Senators questioned the timing and content of an Aug. 7 text message that defense counsel said was a request for information and that others suggested could be retaliatory. Several senators also cited public remarks and a press release from McKeon in which he wrote that "I might still occasionally have a bad joke slip out," language some members said undercutled expressions of remorse and raised concerns about future conduct.

Chair Hansen framed the procedural stakes: expulsion is governed by the state constitution and legislative rules and requires a two‑thirds vote of all elected senators. He described LR 282 as "a weighty matter" and said the Executive Board took its responsibility seriously in upholding a respectful workplace.

The hearing record establishes these points from the committee proceeding: the initial complaint was lodged on June 2, 2025; a special personnel panel was formed and retained outside counsel; Paulson was retained on or about Sept. 12, 2025 and submitted her report Oct. 27, 2025; and the Executive Board met on Dec. 13, 2025 and unanimously recommended expulsion to the full Legislature. The committee took no formal vote at the conclusion of the invited‑testimony hearing.

Next steps: LR 282 remains a recommendation to the full Legislature; any motion to expel would require the two‑thirds supermajority mandated by the Nebraska Constitution and the Legislature’s rules. The Executive Board hearing closed without a committee vote and the matter will proceed according to legislative procedure.