The House Ethics Committee announced Monday it was conducting a review of a referral from the Office of Congressional Conduct into allegations against Rep. Nancy Mace regarding violations of House rules for expenses related to her Washington, D.C., lodgings.

The announcement comes after a Dec. 2 referral from the OCC, which found that the South Carolina Republican may have engaged in improper reimbursement practices for seeking reimbursements exceeding the expenses she incurred.

“The Board recommends that the Committee further review the above allegation concerning Rep. Mace because there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Mace engaged in improper reimbursement practices,” reads the OCC report released Monday by the Ethics Committee.

Mace declined to cooperate with the OCC’s review, according to the report. The OCC is an independent, nonpartisan body that reviews and refers allegations of misconduct against House members.

“Because Rep. Mace refused to interview in this matter, the OCC was unable to determine how or why Rep. Mace decided to seek the maximum allowable reimbursement when it exceeded her expenses incurred,” the report states.

The House Administration Committee began allowing members to be reimbursed for housing expenses in April 2023, which included retroactive reimbursements starting on Jan. 3, 2023. Members are allowed to reimburse themselves for lodging expenses with the Members’ Representational Allowance, but that amount is limited to per diem rates set by the General Services Administration.

Those costs include utilities, condo, cooperative or HOA fees, insurance and taxes attributable to ordinary and necessary business travel, such as days on which lodging reimbursement is otherwise eligible. The costs may not exceed the total housing expenses incurred in that month.

According to the OCC’s review, Mace’s requests for reimbursement exceeded the total of the D.C. property she owned and was staying in with her ex-fiancé, Brendan Patrick Bryant.

“Based on the information available to the OCC, it appears Rep. Mace was reimbursed amounts exceeding the actual costs incurred for the DC Property during several months in 2023 and 2024. Further, if Rep. Mace did not pay for 100% of expenses related to the DC property — a determination the OCC could neither reach nor reject due to the Congresswoman’s lack of cooperation — this would increase the disparity between the amounts Rep. Mace was reimbursed and her actual expenses incurred,” the OCC report said.

Now, the matter is in the hands of the Ethics Committee, which will review OCC’s findings. According to the office, if Mace “engaged in improper reimbursement practices, then she may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law.”

In a response from her lawyer to the Ethics Committee, her lawyer criticized the use of materials involving Bryant in the investigation.

“Any reliance on documents originating from Bryant or those aligned with him raises significant bias and credibility concerns derived from his documented history of retaliation, abuse of legal process, and willful dissemination of misleading information,” the letter said.

Mace has made headlines recently for unrelated matters involving the Ethics Committee. She announced she would introduce a resolution intended to force the typically secretive Ethics panel to publicly release reports and records of sexual harassment against members of Congress.

This comes after Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales was accused of sexually harassing a former staffer who later died by suicide. Gonzales told CNN he would not resign, saying, “What you’ve seen is not all the facts” related to the relationship.

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