Former employee’s ethics complaint alleges age discrimination in Rep. Troy Nehls’ office
By Gabby Birenbaum, The Texas Tribune
June 17, 2026
WASHINGTON — Rep. Troy Nehls is facing an age discrimination complaint from a former employee, who told the House Ethics Committee that he is one of three staffers alleged to have faced unfair treatment over their age while working for the Richmond Republican.
Kevin Countie, who served as Nehls’ deputy chief of staff from 2021 to 2023, filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee in 2023 alleging that Nehls and his chief of staff, Robert Schroeder, created a hostile work environment for older employees. Countie, hired by Nehls at age 63, said he was subject to derogatory remarks about his age and saw his job duties reassigned to younger employees before eventually being pushed out.
In an interview with The Texas Tribune, Countie said he believes he was pushed out because of his age and recounted feeling insulted by age-related comments from Nehls and Schroeder. He said he raised concerns about his treatment, and about Schroeder’s conduct, directly with Nehls on multiple occasions, but nothing changed.
The committee appears to be reviewing the allegation. Countie said he was interviewed by the Ethics Committee about his complaint, which was shared with the Tribune, in June 2025. The Tribune also reviewed scheduling and follow-up emails confirming the interview. In addition, an email sent last month from a lawyer with the congressional Office of Employee Advocacy — which is representing Countie in the matter — advised Countie on publicly discussing “the investigation into your Ethics complaint.”
Given a list of detailed questions regarding Countie’s allegations, including whether the Ethics Committee had reached out to Nehls or Shroeder, Nehls spokesperson Emily Matthews disputed Countie’s account.
“Kevin Countie continues to fabricate baseless lies,” Matthews said without elaborating. “We hope he gets the help he needs.”
Countie is not the only former Nehls employee to allege age discrimination. Another former employee wrote in a March 2022 letter to Countie, obtained by the Tribune, that Schroeder described the employee as “old” and advised overwhelming the older worker to encourage or compel the employee to quit or retire. Countie forwarded the letter to Nehls in May 2022 and included it in his ethics complaint.
Countie said Nehls took his chief of staff’s side — a trend that continued throughout Countie’s time in the office, he alleged. Countie also said Schroeder made ageist remarks toward special adviser Tom Goodfellow, also in his 60s.
In his complaint, in which he detailed examples of his treatment, Countie wrote that the experience took a professional and personal toll.
“They are clear indications of age discrimination based on stereotypes and assumptions associated with my age group,” Countie wrote. “The treatment I endured in Congressman Troy Nehls’s office left me feeling depressed, humiliated, and insulted — feelings I had never experienced during my years at the Drug Enforcement Administration and in association with the Army.”
The House Ethics Committee, a bipartisan body with high confidentiality standards, declined to comment on the status or existence of Countie’s complaint. Members do not discuss active investigations, and while the committee may announce it has opened an investigation, it is not compelled to do so. A majority of committee members may vote to keep a matter private, and some investigations are opened and closed without any public notification.
“The old colonel”
Countie, a retired Army colonel, began his career in the Texas Army National Guard. He first met Nehls in the early 2000s when both served in the same Army Reserve unit in Pasadena.
The two stayed in touch, and Countie later attended the Army War College with Nehls’ twin brother, Trever — who is now running to replace Troy, who did not run for reelection. Countie also worked for two decades at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, departing as a senior intelligence analyst in 2019, the year after he retired from the Army National Guard.
He then took a job as a criminal intelligence unit director at the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. That same year, Countie said, he and Nehls verbally agreed that Countie would become chief of staff if he was elected.
But after Nehls won that November, Countie said, Nehls hired Schroeder, then working for Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, as chief of staff. The congressman-elect asked Countie if he would be comfortable serving as deputy chief of staff and national security adviser instead.
“I told Troy, listen, I’m a team player,” Countie said. “I am only coming up to serve with you and continue my service to the country. And I said frankly, I don’t care what my title is — and so we agreed that it would be deputy chief of staff.”
Countie moved to Washington full-time in April 2021 and said he quickly realized that he was not as integral to the office leadership team as promised. He also said both Nehls and Schroeder began commenting negatively about his age.
“Troy made comments that, ‘I really didn’t know what I was doing, bringing you and some of the older personnel in, offering you the money that I did,’” Countie recalled Nehls saying. “‘I realized that I made a mistake.’”
Countie said Schroeder regularly made him feel unwelcome based on his age, including in front of Nehls. He wrote in his ethics complaint that after a staff golf event in which Countie faced difficulties related to a hip complaint, Schroeder patted him on the back and called him “old timer.” Younger staffers, Countie said, addressed him as “old man,” a pattern he said Schroeder observed but never corrected.
In his complaint, Countie said Nehls’ actions indicated that he condoned the behavior.
“I felt increasingly uncomfortable and embarrassed, as my age was frequently highlighted,” he wrote, noting that Nehls “frequently introduced or referred to me as the ‘old colonel,’” a moniker that caught on with colleagues and office visitors. Nehls also “frequently overheard comments by other staffers in the office regarding my age and condoned their commentary,” Countie added, describing the comments as insulting.
In August 2021, Countie wrote in his ethics complaint, he played a round of golf with Nehls during which the 58-year-old congressman said he had been advised by a trusted mentor to surround himself with younger people “because they would keep him young.”
By 2022, Countie said, his role in the office began to diminish. He returned from vacation that March to find that his business cards had been removed from the office and his desk had been moved to a less central location. And his portfolio shrank significantly.
In spring 2022, Countie said, Schroeder told the office communications director and legislative director that they would not need to submit any appropriations requests or franking material related to foreign affairs and national security — both of which were in Countie’s legislative portfolio.
“All of my work basically started getting shut down — and I had less and less responsibility,” Countie said.
Countie said he was further undermined by being left out of meetings that a deputy chief of staff should have been part of — budget, personnel, coordinating with the National Republican Congressional Committee. In his complaint, Countie wrote that Schroeder denied his requests to attend formal training programs, instead favoring younger employees for specialized trainings.
That May, Nehls brought on a much younger staffer as his new counsel. Many of Countie’s duties, he said, were reassigned to her, including handling judiciary, immigration and homeland security matters.
That July, Nehls asked for a meeting with Countie, alongside Schroeder, to discuss his role, Countie said. At the meeting, Countie relayed his frustration at having his portfolio diminished, especially given his experience in the military and counter-narcotics. And he told them he was concerned about the office culture, which he wrote in his complaint was akin to a fraternity house given the imbalance between older and younger staffers.
Countie said Schroeder told him that he was overqualified for his role and that he did not see a need for a deputy chief of staff with such a narrow portfolio. Countie recalled that Schroeder equated having him in the office to “using a platinum hammer on a rusty nail.” In the interview, he said, Nehls said nothing when Schroeder used that metaphor — “he just sat there.”
By October, Countie said, Schroeder told him he would not be needed in the next Congress; Countie left the office in January 2023, before Nehls’ next term began.
Other allegations
Nehls was previously investigated by the Ethics Committee in 2024 over allegations that he used campaign funds for personal use — an allegation that the committee has not addressed since releasing an Office of Congressional Ethics report about the case that year.
In his 2023 complaint, Countie alleged that he was not the only recipient of ageist commentary. Schroeder would regularly belittle Goodfellow, who was 63 at the time, in staff meetings, Countie wrote, making fun of his raspy voice and physical demeanor.
And another older employee wrote a letter to Countie, obtained by the Tribune, detailing an action by Schroeder that the employee found to be ageist.
The letter said Schroeder had advised another employee to “overwhelm me during training” with the goal of forcing the older employee to quit or retire — a situation the older employee described as stressful.
Countie forwarded the letter to Nehls and included it in his ethics complaint, according to emails reviewed by the Tribune. Countie said that after receiving the letter, Nehls discussed the allegation with Schroeder, then told Countie that he believed Schroeder’s denial.
During his tenure, Countie said, he made Nehls well aware of his frustrations with Schroeder’s treatment.
“I talked to Troy pretty regularly, and I complained to Troy four or five times about how I was being treated and what Schroeder was doing and not doing,” Countie said. But the response he got from Nehls was always, “I know Kevin, I got it, I’ll deal with it” — but nothing would change.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.