Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) announced on April 21, 2026, that she would be resigning from her seat on the House of Representatives, following promises from Republicans to force a vote to expel her from the chamber. The Florida Democrat revealed her decision to step down from her seat in a post published on social media.
“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 went on to say on April 21. “I hereby resign from the 119th Congress, effective immediately.” Cherfilus-McCormick added, “This fight is far from over.” The congresswoman was indicted by a grand jury in 2025 for allegedly stealing COVID emergency funds.
In a separate criminal indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick is looking at a potential prison sentence of 53 years. The sudden announcement came after Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) said he would file a motion to have her expelled from the House, with a vote being prepared for later in the week. In order for a lawmaker to be booted from the House, two-thirds have to vote in favor of the motion.
The bad news for Cherfilus-McCormick is that the number of Democrats voicing support for the expulsion effort continued to grow. The announcement also came just minutes before a House Ethics Committee hearing that was going to recommend sanctions against her for a laundry list of violations involving financial misconduct, according to Fox News.
Luckily for the Florida Democrat, House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) said the panel lost jurisdiction due to her last-minute decision to resign from Congress. However, the report revealed the committee panel had uncovered “clear and convincing evidence” in March that Cherfilus-McCormick misused federal disaster relief funds that were improperly paid to her family’s healthcare business, along with other violations.
The Democratic congresswoman has vehemently denied the allegations against her and shot down speculation early on that she would resign if confronted with an expulsion vote. Cherfilus-McCormick ripped into the ethics panel probe, referring to it as a “witch hunt” on social media and claimed the committee violated her right to due process, despite the committee approving a request to delay proceedings when she briefly lost legal representation in early 2026.
Guest pushed back on those allegations, stating that Cherfilus-McCormick had declined the committee’s request to provide exculpatory evidence on several occasions. “The committee has worked diligently to investigate this matter,” he said about the situation. “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.”
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Cherfilus-McCormick is now the third lawmaker to step down from Congress over the course of the last seven days. Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Tony Gonzales (R-TX) resigned a week ago to avoid being expelled themselves over sexual misconduct allegations. A total of five women came forward and made allegations against Swalwell of sexual assault and rape. Gonzales confessed to sexual misconduct in March by having an affair with a former aide who later committed suicide.
The Florida Democrat is now facing a 15-count federal criminal indictment that could land her behind bars for five decades if convicted. However, the trial is not set to begin until the early part of 2027. Cherfilus-McCormick had filed to run for re-election, despite the fact she only raised $11,000 in the first quarter of fundraising. It’s not clear if she intends to suspend her campaign.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video