Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick quit the House on Tuesday afternoon, minutes before a House Ethics Committee hearing was set to recommend sanctions against her and days before a near-certain expulsion vote. The Florida Democrat, facing a 15-count federal criminal indictment over an alleged $5 million FEMA fraud scheme, posted her resignation on social media and was not on the House floor when it was read aloud.
Her exit marks the third congressional resignation in a single week and ends a saga that saw bipartisan calls for her removal, a grand jury indictment, and an ethics panel finding that she committed 25 of 27 alleged violations. The timing, just before the committee could formally act, stripped the panel of jurisdiction and spared Cherfilus-McCormick a public sanctions hearing.
House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., confirmed the committee lost its authority the moment she resigned.
"In light of Ms. McCormick's resignation earlier today, the Committee on Ethics has now lost jurisdiction on this matter. There will not be a sanctions hearing."
The ethics case against Cherfilus-McCormick stretched more than two years. Committee staff reviewed tens of thousands of documents before the panel found in March what it called "clear and convincing evidence" that the congresswoman misused federal disaster relief money improperly paid to her family's healthcare company.
Federal prosecutors allege she stole $5 million in FEMA relief funds through the company and used some of the money to support her 2022 special election campaign. A special House Ethics Committee panel ultimately found her guilty on 25 of 27 ethics violations after a lengthy investigation, including campaign finance-related misconduct tied to millions of dollars routed through businesses and family members.
The ethics panel's findings fueled a bipartisan push toward expulsion that had been building for months.
Separately, a federal grand jury indicted Cherfilus-McCormick last year for allegedly stealing COVID-19 emergency funds. That 15-count criminal indictment carries a maximum sentence of 53 years in prison if she is convicted. Her federal trial is scheduled to begin in early 2027, Fox News reported.
Cherfilus-McCormick denied wrongdoing throughout the investigation. She slammed the ethics panel's work as a "witch hunt" and rebuffed speculation for weeks that she would resign. Earlier this year, the committee even granted a delay when she temporarily lost legal representation.
On Tuesday, she framed her departure as a choice, not a concession. In her social media post, she wrote:
"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 added: "I hereby resign from the 119th Congress, effective immediately." And she insisted, "This fight is far from over."
An aide told reporters that Cherfilus-McCormick was in Washington, D.C., with her family as the news broke.
"She's with her family digesting this development and digesting this decision. As you can imagine, this wasn't what she wanted."
The underlying indictment and alleged FEMA scheme remain unresolved. Cherfilus-McCormick still faces her federal criminal trial, and she had filed to run for re-election despite the charges. Recent Federal Election Commission filings showed she raised just $11,000 in the year's first fundraising quarter, a number that suggests the political ground beneath her had already collapsed.
The resignation came after Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., pledged to file a motion to expel Cherfilus-McCormick, teeing up a vote later this week. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the House, and members of both parties were reportedly prepared to support it.
Guest pushed back on Cherfilus-McCormick's claims that the process denied her due process:
"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."
Democrats who had stayed quiet for months finally spoke up as the expulsion vote neared. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., put it bluntly, as the AP reported:
"You can't crime your way into legitimate power. Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed."
Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., told the Washington Examiner: "I don't see how there's really any other answer other than expulsion or resignation."
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged swift action during a Fox News interview on Tuesday. She advocated for the quick expulsion of Cherfilus-McCormick and the swift removal of Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who is under a separate ethics investigation for an alleged domestic violence incident.
"Let's just get this over with. These cases just being out there... they make us look terrible."
Cherfilus-McCormick became the third lawmaker to resign in the past week. Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, both stepped down to avoid their own expulsion threats. Swalwell faced sexual misconduct allegations from at least five women. Gonzales admitted in March to sexual misconduct with a former aide who later died by suicide.
The rapid-fire departures have tested both parties. Speaker Mike Johnson backed expelling Cherfilus-McCormick while arguing that the Ethics Committee investigation into Mills should run its course before lawmakers consider punitive measures.
Johnson drew a contrast between the two cases. He told Fox News that Mills is cooperating with investigators, unlike Cherfilus-McCormick.
"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."
Johnson added that Mills "says that he wants to prove his innocence, and he has the opportunity to do that."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., notably did not call on Cherfilus-McCormick to step down before her resignation announcement. The silence from Democratic leadership, while Cherfilus-McCormick dug in for weeks against mounting evidence, left rank-and-file Democrats to do the uncomfortable work of publicly demanding her ouster.
Cherfilus-McCormick's resignation ends the House's ability to punish her. It does not end her legal jeopardy. The 15-count federal indictment stands, and her trial is on the calendar for early 2027. If convicted, she faces up to 53 years in prison.
Whether she continues her re-election bid remains unclear. The $11,000 fundraising haul suggests a campaign already on life support. Florida's 20th District will need a special election to fill the vacancy.
She called it political games. The ethics panel called it 25 violations. A federal grand jury called it a 15-count indictment. Voters in Florida's 20th District can decide what to call it, but they'll do so without Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick on the House floor.
