Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has resigned from Congress, shortly before the House Ethics Committee was set to announce sanctions against her, according to her chief of staff.
In March, a House Ethics panel found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of over two dozen ethics violations related to accusations that she funneled millions of dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds into her 2021 congressional campaign. The Florida congresswoman was also indicted by a federal jury on federal charges last November.
Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation came just as the House Ethics Committee’s scheduled hearing was convening, where lawmakers planned to recommend what disciplinary action the House should take against the congresswoman.
Rep. Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, told NOTUS before the announcement that he planned to file an expulsion resolution “as soon as ethics is done with their hearing.”
Trending
“She stole $5 million, she’s been indicted with 15 felonies. If she was found guilty of 25 different ethics violations, I think it’s incumbent on the House to expel her from the body,” Steube said. “I’m shocked that she hasn’t retired.”
The House Ethics Committee quickly ended the hearing just minutes after it started. Rep. Michael Guest, the committee chair, read Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation letter in the hearing room. He also took a few minutes to congratulate the ethics panel that investigated Cherfilus-McCormick for the past two years.
“The Committee on Ethics has now lost jurisdiction on this matter. There will not be a sanctions hearing,” Guest said. “I would like to thank the committee staff who are with us today for their two-and-a-half years of hard work in this matter. I will tell you that the committee has worked diligently to investigate this matter, that this was not a rush to a judgment, as someone claimed, that this was a very deliberate process to gather information into allegations that were extremely serious and extremely complicated.”
“Cherfilus-McCormick had multiple, ample opportunities to present exculpatory evidence to the committee and to address the committee,” Guest added.
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, the committee’s ranking member, echoed Guest: “I don’t think any of us are happy at what we’ve gone through, but I am extremely proud being associated with all of you, and I’m grateful for the hard work and the diligence of staff.”
Following the resignations of Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales over sexual misconduct allegations, lawmakers called on Cherfilus-McCormick to resign. The congresswoman said in a statement to NOTUS last week that she declined to do so.
“The allegations I am addressing are not the same as those facing some of my colleagues. Lumping them together, particularly with cases involving sexual assault and rape, is irresponsible,” Cherfilus-McCormick said. “We must uphold due process. No one should be judged or punished before a formal finding. Expelling members without that standard sets a dangerous precedent.”
But she had seemed to change her mind. On Tuesday afternoon, Cherfilus-McCormick announced her resignation and called the ethics investigation “not a fair process.”
“By going forward with this process while a criminal indictment is pending, the committee prevented me from defending myself,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a statement. “Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away so that I can devote my time to fighting for my neighbors in Florida’s 20th district. I hereby resign from the 119th Congress, effective immediately.”
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
“Let me say this plainly: we should be very careful about the precedent we are setting. In this country, we do not punish people before due process is complete,” Cherfilus-McCormick continued. “This is a dangerous path.”
The last time the House expelled a member was in 2023, when over 300 lawmakers voted to remove Rep. George Santos following several criminal fraud charges, but before he was convicted. He was only the sixth member to be expelled.
Elijah Manley, a Democrat who was challenging Cherfilus-McCormick, called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “to move quickly and set a special election so the families of this district have representation during this critical period. Every day without a representative is another day working people in South Florida are pushed aside.”
Manley accused Cherfilus-McCormick of resigning “to avoid being formally expelled from Congress by her own colleagues. She still stole $5 million meant for families recovering from disaster. She still laundered it into a congressional campaign built on a lie. She still faces a 15-count federal indictment and up to 53 years in prison, and that accountability must continue.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Monday that House Democrats would convene after the Ethics Committee issued its disciplinary recommendations, “and then we will proceed in a manner consistent with our approach to these types of ethics matters, which is to always and at all times, follow the facts and apply the relevant law without fear of it.” It’s unclear whether the caucus will convene now that Cherfilus-McCormick has resigned.
Before the announcement, some Democrats echoed Cherfilus-McCormick’s claim that the House should let her legal case play out before resorting to expulsion.
“I think the dilemma is, everybody deserves the right to have due process, and she has not been through due process,” said Rep. Joyce Beatty. (She voted in favor of removing Santos before he was convicted.)
Authors
