Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick resigns ahead of high-stakes ethics sanctions

Claire Heddles, Miami Herald on Apr 21, 2026

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Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned Tuesday afternoon, minutes before a scheduled House Ethics Committee hearing and vote on what sanctions she should face for the more than two dozen counts of misconduct her colleagues charged her with last month.

In a public statement, Cherfilus-McCormick called the committee’s two-year-long investigation into her a “witch hunt” and decried the committee for not holding off proceedings until after her criminal trial over federal charges accusing her of stealing covid relief funds. She has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

“I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name be tarnished,” the Democratic lawmaker wrote on social media.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, she said her resignation would take effect at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday. “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,” she wrote.

The Ethics Committee determined 25 counts of misconduct by Cherfilus-McCormick had been “proven by clear and convincing evidence,” including accepting improper campaign donations, money laundering, comingling personal and campaign funds and various other violations.

Republicans have been calling for her resignation for months, and a growing number of Democrats publicly said they would have backed her expulsion had the ethics committee recommended it Tuesday, Axios reported.

Shortly before her resignation, the congresswoman’s chief of staff told the Miami Herald she planned to campaign to return to her congressional seat — even if she were expelled by the House. It’s rare, but not unheard of for a sanctioned or expelled member of Congress to try to recoup their seat at the ballot box.

The ethics committee recommended expulsion and the House later expelled former Ohio Rep. James Traficant in 2002 over federal criminal charges. He ran for reelection from a prison cell that year and lost with 15% of the vote, according to reporting at the time.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s office did not immediately respond to questions about whether staying in the race remained the plan after her resignation. Her federal criminal trial was pushed back to February 2027 earlier this month.