Four House members are under ethics investigations and at risk of expulsion from the lower chamber as their colleagues call for them to step down or be forced out.
Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), and Cory Mills (R-FL) are all embroiled in various ethics scandals at different points in the House investigation process. The four House members could face expulsion votes as soon as this week, despite their varying investigation timelines, as multiple Capitol Hill colleagues call for them to resign or be expelled.
Here is where the embattled House members are in the investigation process and how it could impact their potential expulsion.
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell ended his campaign to be the next governor of California in response to multiple sexual assault allegations against him surfacing late last week. Four separate women, including a former Swalwell staffer, came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against the sitting congressman. One woman alleged that Swalwell raped her. Swalwell has denied all allegations.
“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s,” Swalwell wrote in a post announcing the suspension of his campaign.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has opened an investigation into the sexual assault allegations made by Swalwell’s former staffer; he was accused of having sex with the ex-staffer in a New York City hotel while she was intoxicated, preventing her from giving consent. The House Committee on Ethics announced on Monday it had opened an investigation into the allegations against Swalwell.
Tony Gonzales
Gonzales ended his reelection campaign in early March after admitting to having an affair with a staffer who died by suicide. Though Gonzales suspended his reelection bid, he remains in the House and is under investigation by the House ethics committee.
“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment,” Gonzales said in March, admitting to the affair with his former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, during an interview. “I take full responsibility for those actions.”
Gonzales’s controversy further developed when the San Antonio Express-News reported on explicit texts he allegedly sent his 2020 campaign’s political director. Multiple members of Congress have called on the Texas Republican to resign from the chamber or face expulsion.
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
A House ethics subcommittee found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty on 25 out of 27 counts related to financial misconduct over accusations that she stole $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds and put a fraction of the funds into her campaign account.
“I look forward to proving my innocence. Until then, my focus remains where it belongs: showing up for the great people of Florida’s 20th District who sent me to Washington to fight for them,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a statement after her guilty ruling.
Democratic representatives had initially called on members to let the investigation play out before jumping to calls for resignation or an expulsion vote, but after the March 27 subcommittee finding, Democrats and Republicans alike called on her to leave the chamber or be forced out.
On April 21, the full ethics committee will hold a public hearing to determine what sanctions it should recommend to the House floor for Cherfilus-McCormick based on the subcommittee’s findings.
Cory Mills
The House ethics committee announced in mid-November it would investigate Mills, just ahead of a floor vote on his censure. The committee said its investigation would cover numerous accusations against him, including allegations of campaign finance law violations, improper gifts and special favors, misused congressional resources, and sexual misconduct or dating violence.
Mills denies the slew of allegations brought against him.
“Congressman Mills is committed to complying with all laws and ethics rules and is pleased that the Federal Election Commission recently dismissed a complaint with similar allegations,” a Mills spokesperson previously told the Washington Examiner. “We trust the House Ethics Committee will come to a similar conclusion.”
The most recent update the ethics committee has released regarding the Mills investigation is the members on the investigative subcommittee: Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA), Rudy Yakym (R-IN), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA).
Who has called for expulsions?
Several sitting Democratic and Republican congressmembers have called for the resignation or expulsion of combinations of the four embattled members, with some calls coming from within the members’ own parties.
JAYAPAL BACKS EXPELLING SWALWELL AND GONZALES OVER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS
“I am sick and tired of men in positions of power getting away with sexual harassment, assault and abuse. Representatives Gonzales and Swalwell should resign. Otherwise, I would vote to expel them,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) said on Sunday.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has been part of leading the charge on the expulsion measures for Swalwell and Gonzales. She has also urged Cherfilus-McCormick to step down or face expulsion.
Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) have notably called for the resignation or expulsion of all four scandal-plagued members.
“Congress should not tolerate representatives who abuse staff, betray public trust for personal gain, and generally violate their oath of office. Reps. Swalwell, Gonzales, Cherfilus-McCormick, and Mills should resign. If they refuse, they should be expelled,” Velazquez said Monday.
How rare are congressional expulsions?
Only six House members have ever been expelled from the chamber. Half of these expulsions were from 1861 — due to prior members’ disloyalty to the Union when they fought for the Confederacy.
Since those three expulsions from the Civil War, only three congressmen have been expelled in recent history. Former congressman Michael J. Myers (D-PA) was expelled from the House by a vote of 376-30 in 1980 when he was convicted of bribery. Former congressman James A. Traficant (D-OH) was convicted in 2002 on charges of conspiracy to commit bribery and defraud the United States, among other charges. Traficant was expelled by a vote of 420-1, with nine members voting present.
George Santos (R-NY) was the most recent member of Congress to be expelled, in a vote of 311-114, with two voting present. Santos was expelled after he was indicted on 23 counts of fraud. He entered a guilty plea, but the remainder of his prison sentence was later commuted by President Donald Trump.
Typically, expulsions are extremely rare and come after an investigation into the representatives’ wrongdoing. As the ethics investigations into Swalwell, Mills, and Gonzales have not yet been completed, it is unclear how their expulsion measures would play out.
Luna pointed out that the GOP was waiting for the investigation into Cherfilus-McCormick to play out before recommending any action, given Democrats who called for due process.
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“The reason why it’s taken so long is because we knew that if we did it prior to essentially, the trial playing out, which already occurred in ethics, that the Democrats will look as a means of saying that she wasn’t given due process,” Luna said on Fox News.
Congress returns to session on Tuesday, so any expulsion measures would be introduced on or after then.