The House Ethics Committee last week found US Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of 25 ethics violations, concluding that the Florida Democrat had misused millions of Covid relief dollars to fund her 2022 special election. The unanimous, bipartisan vote followed a seven-hour hearing which the normally secretive panel held in public. Cherfilus-McCormick has denied the allegations and said she will be exonerated.

The case is more than just another political scandal. The allegations against the congresswoman potentially involved the kind of self-dealing ethics violations that have undermined public trust in Washington. Republicans see political advantage in Cherfilus-McCormick’s troubles, but Democrats see risk. How Democrats handle the charges against one of their own will test whether they are serious about the anti-corruption platform House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has made central to their midterm strategy.

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