Florida Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigns from Congress

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.

"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.

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.

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Smiling anti-ICE agitator accused of punching FL trooper as Gov. DeSantis declarers, "This is not Minneapolis"

Smiling Cruz seen allegedly resisting arrest

Jennifer Cruz is seen allegedly resisting arrest in Florida. She was detained after allegedly punching a trooper in the face during an immigration enforcement operation, according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.  

James Uthmeier

"This is Jennifer Cruz of Jacksonville," Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote in an X post, sharing an image of the woman, who appeared to smile as law enforcement restrained her, but of course, it could have simply been gas.

Moments before she cracked a grin, video [below] shows Cruz kicking toward a female officer while other law enforcement members had already placed her hands behind her back.

"Jennifer disagrees with immigration enforcement and decided to commit a few felonies by getting out of her car and punching a Trooper in the face. But unlike Minnesota, we don't put up with this nonsense. Not today, Jennifer," Uthmeier wrote.

Authorities were seen restraining Jennifer Cruz, who allegedly punched a Florida trooper during an immigration enforcement operation. (@AGJamesUthmeier on X)

Footage shows a chaotic scene as authorities attempted to detain Cruz. As several officers placed her hands behind her back and walked her toward one of their vehicles, Cruz is seen attempting to kick another female officer nearby. Cruz then smirks as the officers detaining her place her on the hood of a vehicle. Once placed in the back of the vehicle, she is seen flailing her corpulent legs and continuing to shout at officers until the doors are slammed.

A News4JAX reporter spoke to Juan Alvarez, the owner of the Mi Pueblo grocery store which was near where the incident occurred. He said he witnessed a traffic stop involving a state trooper.

"ICE agents showed up with the state trooper. They detained the driver," he said.

"And so yeah, they had an operation going on. And after that, they had detained another person. But it seems they got into an altercation with that person. It turned violent," he said, noting that more law enforcement showed up.

Gov. Ron DeSantis Orlando, FL, Dec. 10, 2025. (Rich Pope/via Getty Images)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared Uthmeier's post and wrote, "Really bad decision to attack one of our troopers. This isn't Minneapolis…"

DeSantis also mentioned the incident at an unrelated press conference on Thursday.

"I do know that there was a woman who came out and assaulted one of our troopers," DeSantis said. "Let me just tell you guys this is not Minneapolis. That is not going to end well for you in Florida."

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, (R-FL), quipped in a post, "Never go full Jennifer." [Jennifer is the new Karen.]

"This is how it's done. In Florida, we respect law enforcement and have no patience for far-left extremists who choose to defend dangerous criminals instead of their fellow Americans. This isn’t Minneapolis. In Florida, if you break the law, you will pay the consequences," Rep. Greg Steube, (R-FL), asserted on X.

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BOMBSHELL: Florida Dem Congresswoman Indicted for Allegedly Stealing $5 Million in FEMA Cash to Fund Her Campaign—While Real Hurricane Victims Suffered

Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. A sitting Democratic congresswoman from the Sunshine State is now staring down the barrel of more than half a century in federal prison after prosecutors say she and her crew looted millions in FEMA disaster-relief money… and funneled it straight into her own campaign war chest. 

On Wednesday, the Justice Department dropped the hammer on Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), charging her with masterminding a jaw-dropping scheme to swipe a $5 million overpayment that FEMA accidentally sent to her family’s health-care company during the COVID vaccine push. Instead of sending it back, prosecutors say she and her brother Edwin Cherfilus treated it like their personal piggy bank—laundering the cash through multiple accounts and dumping it into her 2021 congressional race.

"Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a blistering statement. "No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice."

FBI Director Kash Patel didn’t hold back either: “This individual and her family allegedly stole money from FEMA and then laundered it through friends toward her own personal benefits – including her campaign accounts,” Patel said. “Today the FBI and partners at [the Justice Department] took action. No one is above the law.”

Prosecutors say Cherfilus-McCormick’s district chief of staff, Nadege Leblanc, helped funnel stolen cash to straw donors who then “donated” it right back to the campaign. And if that wasn’t enough, a tax preparer named David Spencer is accused of helping the congresswoman cook the books—claiming political spending and personal expenses as business deductions while inflating charitable contributions.

If convicted on all counts, Cherfilus-McCormick could get up to 53 years behind bars. Her brother faces 35, Leblanc up to 10, and Spencer up to 33.

Her legal team trotted out the usual line, calling her “a committed public servant” and vowing to “fight to clear her good name.” Sure.

Meanwhile, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) is already preparing to drop the gavel. He plans to file a motion Thursday to censure Cherfilus-McCormick and boot her off every committee, Foreign Affairs and Veterans’ Affairs included.

“This is one of the most egregious abuses of public trust I have ever seen. Stealing $5 million in taxpayer disaster funds from FEMA of all places is beyond indefensible,” Steube told me. “Millions of Floridians have relied on FEMA after devastating hurricanes, and that money was supposed to help real disaster victims.”

Oh, and the House Ethics Committee is already investigating her separately.

Look, when actual hurricane victims are still waiting on FEMA trailers and tarps, and this crew is allegedly treating disaster money like campaign slush-fund bingo, the word “brazen” doesn’t even cover it.

Stay tuned, this one’s going to get ugly.

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New Resolution Allows Trump To Use ‘Full Force’ Of The Military Against Cartels

Their mothers would be proud

Congress is tossing President Trump a big, shiny green light to go full Chuck Norris on the Mexican drug cartels. 

Rep. Greg Steube (FL-R) with a knack for stirring the pot, dropped a resolution that would let Trump unleash the “full force” of Uncle Sam’s military might on nine of the nastiest criminal outfits south of the border. We’re talking the big dogs—MS-13, Tren de Aragua, the works.

Steube’s not mincing words here. He’s calling these cartels out for “violating the territorial integrity of the United States” and slapping a “clear and evident danger” label on ‘em. 

“Until such time that the Mexican government finally steps up and squashes the drug cartels who use Mexico as their home base, Congress must give President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth the green light to take a sledgehammer to these criminal networks and their supply chains.” Yeah, he said “sledgehammer.” 

The resolution’s got some teeth, too—it’s aiming to authorize Trump’s crew to hit these nine cartels where it hurts, claiming they “present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” The goal? Total wipeout. 

“It is the policy of the United States to ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures, thereby protecting the American people and the territorial integrity of the United States,” it reads. 

This isn’t coming out of left field, either. 

Trump’s State Department already tagged eight of these groups as foreign terrorist organizations, cutting them off from U.S. cash flow. “Terrorist designations expose and isolate entities and individuals, denying them access to the U.S. financial system and the resources they need to carry out attacks,” they said. Smart move—starve the beast, right?

But here’s the kicker: Trump’s team is already knee-deep in a legal slugfest over the Alien Enemies Act, trying to fast-track deportations of alleged Tren de Aragua goons. Some progressive judge—James Boasberg—threw a wrench in it, saying it’s “outside of the typical wartime context.” 

So now, while Trump’s fighting that courtroom mess, Steube’s resolution is basically handing him a bazooka to finish the job. Stay tuned—this one’s gonna get loud.

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