Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has resigned from Congress in the wake of allegations that she stole millions of dollars of federal aid money. The representative’s resignation, coming just before members of the House of Representatives were to debate whether or not she should be expelled, makes her the third member of Congress this month to resign while being investigated for ethics violations.
Cherfilus-McCormick resigns, condemns ethics probe as ‘witch hunt’
Tylease Alli, one of the reading clerks for the House of Representatives, read Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation on the House floor Tuesday afternoon. “I hereby resign my office from the 119 Congress as Representative for Florida’s 20th Congressional District, effective Tuesday, April 21, 2026, 1:30pm,” the statement said. While discussing the honor of having served the district, Cherfilus-McCormick said in her message that “after careful reflection and prayer, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of my constituents and the institution that I step aside at this time.”
As Blavity previously reported, Cherfilus-McCormick was federally indicted in November and accused of stealing millions of dollars in funds overpaid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the COVID-19 pandemic to Trinity Healthcare Services, a company owned by her family. Cherfilus-McCormick was accused of personally profiting from the scheme as well as channeling some of the money into her successful 2022 congressional campaign. She has denied the charges against her. Nonetheless, a bipartisan panel of the House Ethics Committee declared her guilty of several ethics violations last month after holding hearings on the matter. After resigning, Cherfilus-McCormick released a defiant statement ripping the hearing. “This was not a fair process,” she wrote, arguing that “the Ethics Committee refused my new attorney’s reasonable request for time to prepare my defense” and accusing the hearing of being “a witch hunt” that has caused “my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished.”
Latest scandal-plagued official to resign from office
The criminal case against Cherfilus-McCormick is scheduled to go to trial in 2027; she could face more than 50 years in prison if she is convicted of all charges. The House Ethics Committee probe, however, could have led to her expulsion from Congress, and Cherfilus-McCormick offered her resignation minutes before the committee was set to decide whether to recommend she be expelled or face some other punishment. Expulsions from the House are extremely rare and usually only come after a member has been criminally convicted. However, the most recent expulsion, of New York Republican George Santos, came while he still faced federal fraud charges, setting a precedent that could have been applied to removing Cherfilus-McCormick ahead of her trial.
The Florida congresswoman is the third member of Congress in recent weeks to announce their resignation amid serious ethics allegations. Earlier this month, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign for governor of California and announced his resignation from Congress after several women accused him of sexual misconduct, including allegations of rape. Republican Tony Gonzales of Texas also resigned amid accusations of having an affair with a female staffer who later died by suicide; a second former staffer also accused Gonzales of sending her sexually explicit messages. Two of the three members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to be fired this year — Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer — had faced scrutiny over allegations of improper relationships with subordinates.
Now, Cherfilus-McCormick has become the latest high-ranking government official to step down under a cloud of controversy. Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation has not resolved her legal battle, and her defiant words indicate that she is prepared to fight the charges against her in court. She will face those charges as a private citizen, however, as her tenure in Congress has come to an abrupt end.
