Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) has resigned from Congress amid allegations that she stole federal relief funds and used some of the money for her election campaign. The Florida Democrat faced an expulsion vote after a House Ethics panel found her guilty of 25 ethics violations related to the allegations. Democrat Representative Found GUILTY On 25 House Ethic Violations, Expulsion May Soon Be Next Cherfilus-McCormick also faces federal charges stemming from the allegations. BREAKING: Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigns before an ethics panel meeting to weigh punishment for alleged misconduct. https://t.co/YRtfsh2YOx — CBS News (@CBSNews) April 21, 2026 NBC News shared further: Tuesday’s stunning development marked the third resignation in the past week. Two other House lawmakers — Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas — resigned ahead of potential votes to expel them from Congress over allegations of sexual misconduct. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the chamber, meaning it would have taken roughly 70 Democrats to remove her — a high bar. But Democrats were under enormous pressure to oust her as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and his team try to paint President Donald Trump and the GOP as the party of corruption in a critical midterm election year. Cherfilus-McCormick's decision to resign now means her fellow Democrats won't have to take a tough vote on removing her from office. As he opened an Ethics Committee hearing focused on Cherfilus-McCormick, Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., said Tuesday afternoon the congresswoman's resignation means his panel has "now lost jurisdiction on this matter." But he defended the committee's two and a half years of work. “I will tell you that the committee has worked diligently to investigate this matter, that this was not a rush to judgment, as some would claim," Guest said, "that this was a very deliberate process to gather information into allegations that were extremely serious and extremely complicated.” "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," Cherfilus-McCormick said in a statement. "Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away so that I can devote my time to fighting for my neighbors in Florida's 20th district. I hereby resign from the 119th Congress, effective immediately," she added. pic.twitter.com/u1lLBxfrI6 — Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (@CongresswomanSC) April 21, 2026 The Hill noted: The spotlight on Cherfilus-McCormick had only intensified in the days after Gonzales and Swalwell stepped down. And Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) had been prepared to call up an expulsion motion against his Florida colleague, which several House Democrats said they were ready to back. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said earlier this week that he believed the House would come to a consensus to expel her, calling the evidence found by the Ethics Committee “alarming.”