Rep. Lauren Boebert wants Congress to hit two recently departed House members where it hurts: their retirement checks. The Colorado Republican told CNN reporter Manu Raju on Tuesday that ex-Reps. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, shouldn't just be gone from Congress after resigning amid separate sexual misconduct allegations—they should lose their taxpayer-backed pensions, too.
- "I think they should've been expelled and not resigned," Boebert said, adding that lawmakers should explore ways to deny them retirement benefits so they can't "leave here with all your taxpayer-funded benefits after such shameful acts that cause you to bow out and resign from Congress."
House records show expulsion is exceedingly rare, with only six representatives removed in history: Three in 1861, one in 1980, one in 2002, and George Santos in 2023. Expulsion or discipline such as censure does not automatically strip pensions. Members qualify for retirement benefits after five years in office, a threshold both Swalwell and Gonzales have met, though since both men are 45 years old, they wouldn't be able to collect for years. Both men announced their resignations on Monday and officially stepped down on Tuesday.
Current law only blocks benefits tied to periods of service in which a member is convicted of certain felonies. Boebert has vowed to introduce a censure resolution against Swalwell and has argued his pension should go to alleged victims, the Hill reports. Swalwell "is exactly why Americans hate politicians and I am going to make sure that every member has an opportunity to condemn his conduct," she said in a post on X on Friday, the day the allegations were first reported.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
