Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigns, third House member to quit this month

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from the House of Representatives effective immediately on Tuesday, less than an hour before its Ethics Committee was set to discuss what sanctions to impose on the Florida Democrat for violating more than two dozen House rules and ethical standards.

Cherfilus-McCormick, 47, is the third House member to resign since April 13.

On April 13, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Rep. Tony Gonzalez, a Texas Republican, said they would resign in the face of separate allegations of sexual misconduct.

Cherifilus-McCormick faces a pending criminal case in U.S. District Court in Miami on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in Covid-19 disaster relief funds allocated to her family's health-care business, a portion of which was then allegedly contributed to her 2022 congressional campaign.

The Ethics Committee's own case against her relates to her use of the funds for the campaign. The congresswoman faced the prospect of a vote by the House on whether to expel her after the Ethics Committee issued its sanctions.

Before she resigned, Cherifilus-McCormick had been seeking re-election for a fourth term representing Florida's 20th congressional district.

In her resignation statement, which was posted on X, Cherfilus-McCormick, who denies any wrongdoing, said the Ethics Committee's process in dealing with allegations against her was unfair.

"By going forward with this process while a criminal indictment is pending, the Committee prevented me from defending myself," Cherfilus-McCormick said. "I will not stand by and pretend that this has been anything other than a witch hunt."

"I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished."

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