Florida Democrat Resigns From Congress Amid Fraud Probe

Another House lawmaker has decided to quit instead of waiting to be expelled. Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick announced Tuesday that she is resigning from Congress as she confronts corruption charges back home in Florida and growing pressure from colleagues in Washington, Politico reports. Her statement landed just minutes before the House Ethics Committee was set to publicly weigh discipline for the third-term lawmaker, who has been accused of stealing $5 million in COVID relief funds. On Friday, the bipartisan committee concluded that she was guilty of 25 of the 27 ethics charges against her.

In a statement posted on X, Cherfilus-McCormick blasted the process as unfair, saying the committee had rejected her new attorney's request for time to prepare a defense, the AP reports. "I will not stand by and pretend this has been anything other than a witch hunt," she wrote. "Rather than play these political games, I choose to step away." Cherfilus-McCormick, who had been running for another term in her southeast Florida district, has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges against her. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas resigned from the House last week.