(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) resigned moments before a hearing Tuesday where the House Ethics Committee might have decided to recommend her expulsion from Congress.
The committee found 25 of the 27 violations she had been under investigation for to be proven by clear and convincing evidence in March.
She also awaits her trial in federal court, currently scheduled for February 2027, on charges of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds for her 2021 Florida congressional campaign, according to the Department of Justice.
“After careful reflection and prayer, I have concluded that it is in my best interest and the interest of my constituents and the institution that I step aside at this time,” Cherfilus-McCormick wrote in her letter of resignation addressed to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.). “I remain committed to supporting a smooth transition and ensuring continuity of service for the district.”
Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) said her resignation removes both the committee’s jurisdiction to hear or investigate her case. It also eliminates the House’s opportunity to discuss it on the floor.
“We were prepared today to make a very difficult decision,” Guest told reporters outside the hearing. “Whether or not expulsion should [have been] recommended in this case, I can’t tell you.”
Her resignation is the third among members of Congress this month, following Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who both faced unrelated investigations by the committee into alleged sexual misconduct.
Guest said that the investigation of yet another member of Congress, Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), is ongoing. “The investigative subcommittee… is working diligently to try to bring that matter to a conclusion,” he said.
Mills faces allegations of both financial and sexual misconduct, and a resolution urging his expulsion introduced Monday by his colleague, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).
“There’s a lack of trust in this institution,” Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of California, the top Democrat on the committee, said of the public’s perception of Congress, “and we’ve been working very hard to hold people accountable in both parties so that they have a real sacred trust here.”