McKeon expulsion hearing held, resolution advanced for debate

The Executive Board advanced a resolution Jan. 12 to expel Amherst Sen. Dan McKeon from the Nebraska Legislature after hearing invited testimony on the measure earlier in the day.

LR282, sponsored by the committee, cites a “pattern of behavior violating the Nebraska Legislature’s workplace policies on harassment and decorum” by McKeon, including an incident at a work-related party for senators and staff.

During the event to celebrate the end of the 2025 legislative session, McKeon allegedly told a joke involving sexual innuendo and made inappropriate contact with a female legislative staffer’s buttocks over her clothes, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

The Executive Board conducted an investigation into the allegations against McKeon, as required by the Legislature’s workplace harassment policy.

LR282, based in part on that investigation, states that McKeon has “brought the Legislature into disrespect and disrepute” and likely will not refrain in the future from “activity that is contrary to senatorial traditions of decorum and from actions that are in violation of the Nebraska Legislature’s established policies.”

The resolution also indicates that there are additional confidential complaints pending before the Executive Board regarding McKeon’s behavior and that the senator engaged in retaliatory conduct against his initial accuser by insinuating to a colleague that the complainant was “difficult to work with.”

Executive Board chairperson Blair Sen. Ben Hansen spoke for the committee while introducing the measure. He called the accusations against McKeon a “weighty matter” and noted that consideration of LR282 by the full Legislature would represent lawmakers’ first ever vote to expel a sitting senator.

“The Executive Board takes our responsibility seriously [for] upholding a professional, respectful and safe workplace for all staff members. We believe these substantiated findings and the ongoing impact warrant this action to protect the integrity of the Legislature.”

McKeon’s attorney, Perry Pirsch, addressed the committee on behalf of the senator. He said the resolution recommends expulsion based on a “contested narrative” regarding the incident at the 2025 work-related party and additional complaints that have not been disclosed to McKeon.

Pirsch said expelling McKeon on those grounds would deprive the residents of his legislative district of their chosen representative through a process “literally not much better than a witch hunt.”

He suggested that the Legislature has a number of possible responses to the accusations against McKeon short of expulsion, including formal censure, loss of committee assignments, restrictions on attendance at certain events, additional training and continued physical separation and no-contact requirements.

“If you believe Sen. McKeon should be expelled for telling a bad pun and patting somebody on the back, then you’ll vote to expel him,” Pirsch said. “But if you believe it was only [that], discipline him. Do it publicly, but do it proportionately. Do it in a way that protects staff and strengthens the democratic institution.”

Tara Paulson, outside counsel hired by the Executive Board to investigate the workplace harassment violation against McKeon, provided testimony on her findings.

Evidence gathered during her investigation substantiated that McKeon made a comment containing sexual innuendo and made unwelcome physical contact with the legislative employee at the May 2025 work-related event, Paulson said.

In addition, she found that McKeon attended another work-related event after agreeing not to attend gatherings at which legislative staff would be present and, by his own admission, texted a staffer regarding the complainant based on her decision to pursue the investigation process further.

Paulson noted that while McKeon’s actions did not rise to the level of actionable hostile workplace sexual harassment under state or federal law, they did constitute a violation of the Legislature’s workplace harassment policy.

“As described in my report, actionable is not tantamount to acceptable,” Paulson said.

In an executive session immediately following the hearing, the Executive Board voted 9-0 to advance LR282 to the full Legislature. The single round of debate on the resolution likely will be held Jan. 13. Thirty-three votes will be required for adoption.

Gov. Jim Pillen, who has called for McKeon’s resignation since last year, would appoint a successor to fill the vacant seat. The appointee would serve District 41 until a November 2026 special election to select a representative for the two-year remainder of McKeon’s term.

District 41 encompasses Boone, Greeley, Howard, Sherman, Valley and Wheeler counties in central Nebraska as well as portions of Buffalo and Hall counties.