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| Former Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and her eyelashes |
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) resigned from Congress today, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. The resignation went down just minutes before a scheduled House Ethics Committee hearing set to consider formal disciplinary action, which could have included expulsion recommendations.
The committee had previously found "clear and convincing evidence" of 25 out of 27 violations related to ethics rules and campaign finance laws, including allegations that she misused millions in federal COVID-era FEMA disaster relief funds (improperly sent to her family's health care company) to support her 2022 congressional campaign.
Cherfilus-McCormick said in her arrogant statement that the process was a "witch hunt" and unfair "political games," saying she chose to step away rather than continue. Her resignation is effective immediately.
Cherfilus-McCormick said in her arrogant statement that the process was a "witch hunt" and unfair "political games," saying she chose to step away rather than continue. Her resignation is effective immediately.
"Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away so I can devote my time to fighting for my neighbors in Florida's 20th District," she wrote on social media Tuesday afternoon. "I hereby resign from the 119th Congress, effective immediately."
"This fight is far from over," Cherfilus-McCormick, who was indicted by a grand jury last year for allegedly stealing COVID-19 emergency funds, added in her statement.
She is facing 53 years in prison as part of a separate criminal indictment. The chances that her actually serving that sentence is as remote as JD Pritzker running a marathon.
Her abrupt announcement came after Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) pledged to file a motion to expel her, teeing up a vote later this week. It takes two-thirds of the House to remove a lawmaker, but a growing number of Democrats have voiced support for the expulsion effort.
She is facing 53 years in prison as part of a separate criminal indictment. The chances that her actually serving that sentence is as remote as JD Pritzker running a marathon.
Her abrupt announcement came after Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) pledged to file a motion to expel her, teeing up a vote later this week. It takes two-thirds of the House to remove a lawmaker, but a growing number of Democrats have voiced support for the expulsion effort.
House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) announced the panel lost jurisdiction with Cherfilus-McCormick's eleventh-hour decision to quit Congress. The committee panel dropped a bombshell back in March, uncovering "clear and convincing evidence" that Florida Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick had misused federal disaster relief money, funneled improperly straight to her family’s healthcare company, along with a boatload of other misconduct that would make even the most jaded Capitol Hill veteran raise an eyebrow.
Cherfilus-McCormick, of course, has denied any wrongdoing from day one and repeatedly swatted away any chatter that she might actually resign if faced with the real possibility of an expulsion vote.
She took to social media to blast the entire ethics investigation as a "witch hunt" and whined about supposed violations of her due process rights, even though the committee had bent over backward to accommodate her, granting a delay earlier this year when she temporarily lost her legal representation.
But Rep. Michael Guest wasn’t having any of it on Tuesday. The Mississippi Republican pushed back hard on that narrative, pointing out that Cherfilus-McCormick had repeatedly turned down the committee’s invitations to hand over any exculpatory evidence that might clear her name."The committee has worked diligently to investigate this matter," Guest said. "This was not a rush to judgment, as some would claim … this was a very deliberate process to gather information into allegations that were extremely serious, and extremely complicated."
Guest also made sure to thank the committee staff who had spent more than two years grinding through this mess, poring over tens of thousands of documents to get to the bottom of Cherfilus-McCormick’s alleged shenanigans.
And just like that, she became the third lawmaker to resign from Congress in the past week alone. California Democrat Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Tony Gonzales both stepped down last week to dodge their own expulsion threats tied to serious sexual misconduct allegations.
At least five women have now come forward accusing Swalwell of sexual assault and rape. Gonzales, for his part, admitted to sexual misconduct back in March with a former aide, who later tragically died by suicide.
Despite the storm clouds, Cherfilus-McCormick went ahead and filed for re-election anyway, though her fundraising tells a different story: she scraped together a measly $11,000 in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest FEC filings. Whether she plans to actually keep that campaign alive remains to be seen.
Notably, Cherfilus-McCormick herself wasn’t even on the House floor when her resignation announcement was read aloud.
A staffer for the congresswoman told reporters she was back in Washington with her family as the news dropped.
"She's with her family digesting this development and digesting this decision," the aide said. "As you can imagine, this wasn't what she wanted."
House Democratic leadership stayed conspicuously silent in the run-up to her resignation announcement, even after the Ethics Committee laid out the extensive misconduct in painstaking detail.
But it looks like Cherfilus-McCormick finally caved once a wave of her own Democratic colleagues made it crystal clear they’d vote to expel her if that rare removal vote ever hit the floor.
Former Speaker Nancy Hands-a-Flying Pelosi, never one to mince words, went on Fox News Tuesday and basically said enough is enough: "Let’s just get this over with."
Pelosi also called for the swift boot of embattled Rep. Cory Mills, the Florida Republican currently under Ethics Committee scrutiny for an alleged domestic violence incident and other issues.
"These cases just being out there . . . they make us look terrible," Pelosi said.House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, didn’t publicly call on Cherfilus-McCormick to step down before she pulled the plug.
On the other side of the aisle, Speaker Mike Johnson argued that the Ethics Committee should be allowed to finish its work on Mills before any punishment gets considered.
"I'm confident that they are moving along as quickly as they are able," Johnson told Fox News. "And when members cooperate, which my understanding is Representative Mills is cooperating, unlike Cherfilus-McCormick, I would expect that the outcome would be much sooner."
"He's very upset about some of the allegations that have been made," Johnson added of Mills. "He says that he wants to prove his innocence, and he has the opportunity to do that."
By the way, this resignation didn’t fly under the radar, major outlets across the spectrum, Brain Flushings, PBS and CNN to CBS, Fox News, The Hill, Politico, Reuters, NBC, and The Washington Post, all jumped on the story today.
She took to social media to blast the entire ethics investigation as a "witch hunt" and whined about supposed violations of her due process rights, even though the committee had bent over backward to accommodate her, granting a delay earlier this year when she temporarily lost her legal representation.
But Rep. Michael Guest wasn’t having any of it on Tuesday. The Mississippi Republican pushed back hard on that narrative, pointing out that Cherfilus-McCormick had repeatedly turned down the committee’s invitations to hand over any exculpatory evidence that might clear her name."The committee has worked diligently to investigate this matter," Guest said. "This was not a rush to judgment, as some would claim … this was a very deliberate process to gather information into allegations that were extremely serious, and extremely complicated."
Guest also made sure to thank the committee staff who had spent more than two years grinding through this mess, poring over tens of thousands of documents to get to the bottom of Cherfilus-McCormick’s alleged shenanigans.
And just like that, she became the third lawmaker to resign from Congress in the past week alone. California Democrat Eric Swalwell and Texas Republican Tony Gonzales both stepped down last week to dodge their own expulsion threats tied to serious sexual misconduct allegations.
At least five women have now come forward accusing Swalwell of sexual assault and rape. Gonzales, for his part, admitted to sexual misconduct back in March with a former aide, who later tragically died by suicide.
Despite the storm clouds, Cherfilus-McCormick went ahead and filed for re-election anyway, though her fundraising tells a different story: she scraped together a measly $11,000 in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest FEC filings. Whether she plans to actually keep that campaign alive remains to be seen.
Notably, Cherfilus-McCormick herself wasn’t even on the House floor when her resignation announcement was read aloud.
A staffer for the congresswoman told reporters she was back in Washington with her family as the news dropped.
"She's with her family digesting this development and digesting this decision," the aide said. "As you can imagine, this wasn't what she wanted."
House Democratic leadership stayed conspicuously silent in the run-up to her resignation announcement, even after the Ethics Committee laid out the extensive misconduct in painstaking detail.
But it looks like Cherfilus-McCormick finally caved once a wave of her own Democratic colleagues made it crystal clear they’d vote to expel her if that rare removal vote ever hit the floor.
Former Speaker Nancy Hands-a-Flying Pelosi, never one to mince words, went on Fox News Tuesday and basically said enough is enough: "Let’s just get this over with."
Pelosi also called for the swift boot of embattled Rep. Cory Mills, the Florida Republican currently under Ethics Committee scrutiny for an alleged domestic violence incident and other issues.
"These cases just being out there . . . they make us look terrible," Pelosi said.House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, didn’t publicly call on Cherfilus-McCormick to step down before she pulled the plug.
On the other side of the aisle, Speaker Mike Johnson argued that the Ethics Committee should be allowed to finish its work on Mills before any punishment gets considered.
"I'm confident that they are moving along as quickly as they are able," Johnson told Fox News. "And when members cooperate, which my understanding is Representative Mills is cooperating, unlike Cherfilus-McCormick, I would expect that the outcome would be much sooner."
"He's very upset about some of the allegations that have been made," Johnson added of Mills. "He says that he wants to prove his innocence, and he has the opportunity to do that."
By the way, this resignation didn’t fly under the radar, major outlets across the spectrum, Brain Flushings, PBS and CNN to CBS, Fox News, The Hill, Politico, Reuters, NBC, and The Washington Post, all jumped on the story today.
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