‘This is disgraceful’: Democrat guilty of violating House rules, faces expulsion
A vote by the House Ethics committee to launch a process that could lead to the expulsion of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormack, D-Fla., essentially concludes that she’s guilty of a long list of House rule violations.
An investigative subcommittee this week approved a motion for summary judgment, effectively ruling that she is guilty.
She’s also facing criminal counts for allegedly laundering millions of disaster relief funds, illegally, through family corporation bank accounts and into her campaign.
An ethics hearing, taking more than six hours, had both Republicans and Democrats questioning her lawyer, and Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., chief of the eight-member adjudicatory subcommittee, announced its decision Friday.
“After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the SAV [statement of alleged violations] had been proven,” the statement said.
Charges included using ineligible funds to finance her campaign and repeatedly filing false financial disclosure forms and seeking “special favors” with recipients of earmark funding requests, reports confirmed.
Punishment, to be decided later, could include expulsion, as Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., vowed to pursue exactly that.
“The allegations before us are extremely serious,” Rep. Mark Desaulnier, D-Calif., told other committee members. “They not only concern an individual member’s conduct, they also implicate the public’s confidence in the House’s integrity as an institution.”
Cherfilus-McCormack is facing court allegations she stole more than $5 million in disaster relief funds that were incorrectly turned over to her family’s healthcare company.
The proceeds were used for her campaign, for a large diamond ring she has worn, and other personal purchases, prosecutors allege.
If convicted on all counts she could be jailed for 53 years.
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick stole $5 MILLION of your tax dollars, and she still won’t resign.
If you steal from the American people, you don’t belong in Congress. You belong behind bars. pic.twitter.com/BgoLxUbM9D
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) March 26, 2026
EXACTLY RIGHT!
Chairman @RepMichaelGuest isn’t having it.
Two YEARS of work. Subpoenas ignored. Refused to cooperate.
And now Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick wants to pretend this is rushed? pic.twitter.com/0zxjJAikjA
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) March 27, 2026
SHOCKING: Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA) BLASTS fellow Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL), demanding she “resign” or be “removed” from Congress after the House Ethics Committee found “substantial evidence” that she committed 25 ethics violations including… pic.twitter.com/LnQQTb3asv
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) March 27, 2026
The committee pointed out, when Cherfilus-McCormack’s latest lawyer argued for her, that members have tried for two years to obtain documents from her, without any response.
Steube confirmed he is prepared to offer a resolution to expel Cherfilus-McCormick after her rare public Ethics Committee hearing in which the panel examined 27 counts of alleged House rules violations, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“This is disgraceful. The American people deserve better than corruption in Congress,” Steube said in an X post on the night of the hearing. “I’m ready to expel Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick!”
Her multiple federal charges include conspiracy, theft of government funds, money laundering, illegal campaign contributions, and falsifying tax documents.
“This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment — and I am innocent,” Cherfilus-McCormick said in a Nov. 20 statement. She did not speak publicly during the Ethics hearing, but passed notes and whispered to her counsel throughout the proceeding.
Only six members of Congress have ever been expelled by their colleagues in U.S. history. The most recent was former Republican New York Rep. George Santos in December 2023.