The House Ethics Committee has directed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to make around $3,000 in additional payments in relation to her attendance at the 2021 Met Gala and the iconic “Tax the Rich” dress she wore.
Ocasio-Cortez had already made payments to account for the rental cost of the dress and accessories in 2022, but in a report released publicly on Friday, the Ethics Committee found the estimated rental cost to be “unrealistic” and below market value, amounting to an impermissible gift not in compliance with federal law and House rules — even though it said the violations were not “knowing and willful.”
Ocasio-Cortez is expected to pay the difference, which would bring an end to the years-long investigation into her Met Gala attendance.
While Ocasio-Cortez previously paid $990.76 for the cost of renting her Met Gala ensemble from designer Brother Vellies, the committee found that the designer’s accountant previously “vastly undervalued the apparel,” and found $3,724.04 to be closer to fair market value for the rental — saying it would be “appropriate” for her to repay an additional $2,733.28 to comply with the Gift Rule.
The Ethics Committee also found that Ocasio-Cortez should donate the $250 cost of her now-fiance’s meal at the gala to the Met’s Costume Institute.
The panel noted that Ocasio-Cortez made “significant steps” to comply with House gift rules, and that her attendance at the event otherwise complied with House rules.
“The Congresswoman appreciates the Committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a Member of the House,” Mike Casca, Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, said in a statement. “She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she’s done at each step in this process.”
Ocasio-Cortez separately previously paid for the cost of makeup, hotel rooms, transportation, and other “similar benefits” in connection with attending the Met Gala, totaling around $7,500. With the new costs directed by the committee, Ocasio-Cortez will have personally paid over $10,000 for the Met Gala evening, her counsel told the Ethics Committee.
“It would be nonsensical to suggest that the Congresswoman should have been prepared to pay for aspects of items and services that she didn’t know about and didn’t authorize,” her counsel said in a May 2025 letter.
Mike Casca, AOC’s chief of staff, said in a statement: “The Congresswoman appreciates the Committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a Member of the House. She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she’s done at each step in this process.”
This is the latest blow to AOC, whose Bronx was vandalized last weekend with an anti-Israel message and red paint splashed across a photo of the progressive lawmaker’s face.
New York City police said they responded to a call directing them to the campaign office on Herschell Street in the Bronx at 12:45 a.m. Monday.
Vandals had splashed red paint at the office and left a sign that read, “AOC Funds Genocide in Gaza.”
Police said no arrests were made, and their investigation is ongoing.
“We see a lot of this stuff. We’re going to review our cameras and that of the building too,” campaign manager Oliver Hidalgo told WABC-TV. Hidalgo likewise mentioned getting in touch with the landlord.
“We have a lot of folks who have been reaching out, volunteers who want to come help and clean up, so they’ll be doing that,” he added. “I just got here, so I don’t know if there’s anything additional beyond this, but the number one priority is making sure people are OK.”
A self-proclaimed anti-Israel group, Boogie Down Liberation Front, appeared to take credit for the incident. “The Bronx is sick and tired of people like AOC and Ritchie Torres using us as a stepping stone for their own political careers,” they said in a statement given to the Post that was published on X by an independent journalist.
“The Bronx stands with the people of Palestine and we denounce the hypocrisy of AOC who voted to fund Israel’s ongoing genocide and starvation campaign in Gaza. FUCK AOC!” pic.twitter.com/6hXYLfNEY2
— Ash J (@AshAgony) July 21, 2025
“The Bronx stands with the people of Palestine and we denounce the hypocrisy of AOC who voted to fund Israel’s ongoing genocide and starvation campaign in Gaza. F–K AOC!” they continued.
The incident comes days after she broke ranks with her fellow progressive “Squad” Democratic members and voted alongside 421 other House representatives against funding cuts to the Israeli Defense Forces.
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