Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the Florida Democrat facing a 15-count federal indictment and a guilty finding on 25 ethics violations, told supporters she will not resign, even as the House Ethics Committee prepares to recommend sanctions and a Republican colleague vows to force an expulsion vote as soon as this week.
"For those asking whether I plan to resign, the answer is no," Cherfilus-McCormick declared, adding: "This is not the time to abandon the district, not when they too are fighting for their future." The defiance sets up what could become only the seventh expulsion in the history of the House of Representatives.
The Ethics Committee scheduled a hearing for Tuesday afternoon to formally recommend punitive action against the congresswoman. But Rep. Greg Steube, a fellow Florida lawmaker, has made clear he will not wait for whatever sanction the panel suggests. Fox News reported that Steube has vowed to bring a resolution forcing a floor vote on expulsion regardless of the committee's recommendation.
Expelling a member of Congress requires a two-thirds majority, a high bar that demands bipartisan buy-in. Most Democrats have not publicly backed expulsion. But the political ground beneath Cherfilus-McCormick is shifting fast.
A special House Ethics subcommittee in March found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of more than two dozen ethics violations after what the Washington Examiner described as a 24-month investigation. The panel determined there was "clear and convincing" evidence she committed 25 of the 27 counts brought against her, according to the subcommittee's finding.
At the center of the case: allegations that more than $5 million in FEMA disaster-relief funds, taxpayer money tied to a COVID-19 vaccination contract involving her family's company, Trinity Healthcare Services, was improperly diverted and funneled into her campaign coffers. Federal prosecutors allege the company received payments more than 100 times what the government actually owed it.
The rare public ethics trial earlier this year laid out a scheme in which funds were allegedly routed through various accounts and used to bankroll Cherfilus-McCormick's 2022 special election campaign. That campaign propelled her into the seat she now refuses to leave.
The ethics case runs parallel to a far more consequential legal threat. A federal grand jury indicted Cherfilus-McCormick in 2025 on 15 counts. Federal prosecutors charged her with stealing federal funds, money laundering, participating in a straw donor scheme to conceal illicit money flowing to her campaign, and conspiring to file a false federal tax return.
If convicted on all counts, she faces more than 50 years in prison. The Washington Free Beacon noted the potential sentence could reach 53 years.
A federal judge last week approved a delay in the criminal proceedings until February 2027, a continuance requested by both Cherfilus-McCormick's legal team and prosecutors. That means the congresswoman could remain under indictment but unconvicted well into the next election cycle, collecting a salary and casting votes the entire time.
Her campaign finances tell their own story. FEC filings show Cherfilus-McCormick entered April with just $11,000 in the bank and nearly $4.4 million in debt, much of it driven by mounting legal fees.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Monday that Democrats would convene after the Ethics Committee finishes its work to discuss Cherfilus-McCormick's fate.
"We will proceed in a manner consistent with our approach to these types of ethics matters, which is to always and at all times follow the facts and apply the relevant law without fear of it."
That careful language left plenty of room for delay. But not every Democrat is hedging. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters last week she would vote to expel Cherfilus-McCormick if the congresswoman did not resign. And Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Washington state Democrat, was blunter still.
"You can't crime your way into legitimate power. Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed."
Meanwhile, Cherfilus-McCormick has maintained her innocence. "I look forward to proving my innocence," she said, as the ethics panel's guilty finding fueled growing calls for accountability.
House Speaker Mike Johnson signaled support for the expulsion effort last week, citing what he called "alarming facts" identified by the bipartisan ethics panel. His backing matters. Republicans hold the majority, but they cannot reach two-thirds alone.
Just six lawmakers have been expelled from the House in its entire history. The most recent was former Rep. George Santos, a New York Republican ousted in 2023 after his own fraud charges. Johnson's public support for expulsion raises the stakes considerably for Democrats who might prefer a quieter resolution.
Two other members, former Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales, resigned last week to fend off their own expulsion threats over sexual misconduct allegations. That precedent makes Cherfilus-McCormick's refusal to step down all the more conspicuous.
Rep. Cory Mills, a Florida Republican, is also facing a looming expulsion vote, a reminder that the current House leadership has shown a willingness to police its own ranks. The broader wave of expulsion resolutions marks an unusually aggressive posture from a chamber that has historically preferred to look the other way.
One of the more telling silences belongs to the Congressional Black Caucus, which has been largely mum on the allegations facing Cherfilus-McCormick. The caucus contributed $5,000 to her campaign during the first fundraising quarter of 2026, after her indictment and after the ethics investigation was well underway.
That donation, modest as it is, sends a signal. Whether it reflects genuine support for Cherfilus-McCormick or institutional reluctance to abandon a member, it sits awkwardly alongside the weight of the evidence against her.
Three Democratic challengers have already lined up for the August 2026 primary: Gen Z activist Elijah Manley, rap artist Luther Campbell, and former Broward County Mayor Dale Holness. Florida's Republican-controlled state legislature could also move to redraw Cherfilus-McCormick's district, further complicating her political future.
As Republican members claim they have the votes to force the issue, the question is no longer whether the House will act, but whether enough Democrats will join them.
The Ethics Committee hearing Tuesday will produce a formal recommendation. Just The News reported that the panel could recommend expulsion, though censure remains a possibility. Whatever the committee suggests, Steube's resolution means the full House could face an expulsion vote as soon as this week.
Cherfilus-McCormick's criminal trial has been pushed to February 2027. Her ethics case is resolved on the facts, 25 of 27 counts proven. Her campaign account is nearly empty. Her legal debts run into the millions. And she says she isn't going anywhere.
The New York Post detailed how the Ethics Committee found "substantial reason to believe" Cherfilus-McCormick violated House rules after a probe involving subpoenas and extensive records. The committee's chairman, Rep. Michael Guest, said the panel would announce its decision through a public statement.
Open questions remain. What specific sanction will the committee recommend? Will enough Democrats cross over to reach two-thirds? And how long will the House tolerate a member who has been found guilty by its own ethics process, indicted by a federal grand jury, and accused of stealing millions in disaster-relief money meant for Americans in crisis?
When FEMA funds earmarked for a pandemic end up financing a congressional campaign, and the member caught holding the money refuses to leave, the institution either enforces its own rules or admits those rules don't matter. The House is about to show the country which one it chooses.
