Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida resigned on Tuesday before the House could sanction her in an ethics investigation.
What You Need To Know – Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick is resigning rather than be formally disciplined by the House as part of an ethics investigation into her use of campaign funds – The Florida Democrat on Tuesday said a House committee denied her adequate time to prepare a defense – Members of the House Ethics Committee had been set to weigh what punishment to recommend after they found Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards – Republicans had already called for her expulsion
Members of the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday were set to weigh what punishment to recommend after they found she committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards, including breaking campaign finance laws.
“This was not a fair process,” she said in a statement, adding that the committee denied her adequate time to prepare a defense.
Republicans had already called for the expulsion of Cherfilus-McCormick, who is in her third term and is running for reelection in a southeastern Florida district. She is also facing federal criminal charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in coronavirus disaster relief funds and using the money to buy items such as a 3-carat yellow diamond ring.
Cherfilus-McCormick has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and says she is not guilty of ethics violations, either.
The allegations against the congresswoman center on how she received millions of dollars from her family’s health care business after Florida mistakenly overpaid the business by roughly $5 million with COVID-19 disaster relief funds. She is accused of using that money to fund her 2022 congressional campaign through a network of businesses and family members.
Cherfilus-McCormick declined to testify during a previous Ethics Committee hearing, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Her attorney, William Barzee, sparred with some of the lawmakers and argued that they should have allowed a thorough ethics trial, at which he could present witnesses and evidence to counter the conclusions of House investigators.
Moments after Cherfilus-McCormick submitted her resignation, House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest, R-Miss., said the committee no longer had jurisdiction to conduct the hearing.
He thanked the committee’s staff for “2 ½ years of hard work in this matter,” adding that they had spoken to multiple witnesses and gathered and reviewed tens of thousands of documents.
“Ms. McCormick, who has now resigned from Congress, had multiple ample opportunities to present exculpatory evidence to the committee and to address the committee both by way of a voluntary statement and then also to comply with the subpoena that was issued in this case.”
After a mere 3 ½ minutes, Guest adjourned the hearing.
“Corruption has no place in Congress,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement following Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation. “Now it’s Cory Mills’ turn to resign.”
Mills is a Republican who has represented Florida’s 7th congressional district since 2023. The House Ethics Committee is currently investigating Mills after a December 2025 referral for potential sexual and financial misconduct.
In all, the panel’s two-year investigation led to the issuance of 59 subpoenas, 28 witness interviews and a review of more than 33,000 pages of documents.
Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, said he planned to move to expel Cherfilus-McCormick after the Ethics Committee made a determination on what punishment to recommend. And House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters last week he believed the House would move to expel Cherfilus-McCormick.
The focus on lawmaker wrongdoing comes just one week after two lawmakers resigned during ethics investigations into alleged sexual misconduct. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas headed off possible expulsion votes with their resignations.
House Democratic leaders have declined to condemn Cherfilus-McCormick, saying they wanted to see the ethics process play out. Potential punishments had also included a reprimand or a censure, which serve as forms of public rebuke. The committee could also have recommended a fine. Expulsion is the severe form of punishment, but the House has historically been reluctant to serve as the final arbiter of a lawmaker’s career, preferring to give that final say to the voters.
Only six members of the House have been expelled. The first three fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War and were expelled for disloyalty. The next two had been convicted of crimes. The final one was George Santos, the scandal-plagued freshman who was the subject of a blistering ethics report on his conduct as well as federal indictment. Santos, a New York Republican, served time in prison for ripping off his campaign donors before President Donald Trump granted him clemency, and he has apologized to his former constituents.
Under the Constitution, at least two-thirds of the House has to vote for expulsion for it to occur, a high threshold that requires enormous bipartisan support.
