Swalwell, Gonzales officially resign from House amid sexual misconduct allegations

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) both officially resigned from Congress on Tuesday amid uproar over allegations of sexual misconduct.

The House clerk on Tuesday afternoon read notices that Gonzales was resigning effective 11:59 p.m. Tuesday night, and that Swalwell resigned effective 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The two congressmen had announced their intentions to resign on Monday evening, following mounting pressure and threats of expulsion against both lawmakers. The House clerk read letters from the lawmakers using some of the same language as their resignation announcements the day before.

“It has been my privilege to serve the residents of Texas’s people Texas’s 23rd Congressional district,” Gonzales said in his resignation letter.

“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgement I have made in my past. I will fight the serious allegations made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make,” Swalwell said.

“I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong,” Swalwell said. “But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties.”

Sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell were reported in multiple news outlets on Friday. The San Francisco Chronicle published accusations from an unnamed former aide who said that Swalwell sexually assaulted her on two occasions. Shortly afterwards, CNN reported three other women making separate allegations of sexual misconduct.

Swalwell ended his bid for governor of California on Sunday, even as he denied the most serious allegations. On Tuesday, a fifth woman held a press conference and accused Swalwell of drugging and raping her in 2018.

The furor around Swalwell revived scrutiny of Gonzales, who last month admitted to an affair with a congressional staffer who later died by suicide and ended his reelection bid under pressure from GOP leadership.

Both Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) had warned that they would move forward with forcing votes on resolutions to expel Swalwell and Gonzales if they did not officially resign at 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, when the House floor opened for legislative business. That deadline came and went with the House clerk not reading any notice of resignation, leading Fernandez to file a resolution to expel Gonzales shortly after.

But the House returned into session at 3 p.m., and announced both resignations.

The resignations now shift the attention to other embattled lawmakers on Capitol Hill: Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) and Cory Mills (R-Fla.).

With their resignations and with Rep.-elect Clay Fuller (R-Ga.) set to be sworn in on Tuesday evening to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the GOP-Democratic breakdown of the House will be 218-213, counting independent Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-Calif.) as a member of the House Republican Conference.

That margin is set to change to 218-214 later this month, when Democrat Analilia Mejia is expected to be elected to a Democratic-leaning seat in an Apr. 16 special election to fill the vacancy left by now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D).

A primary special election for a Republican-leaning seat to fill a vacancy created by Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s (R-Calif.) sudden death earlier this year will be held on June 2, with a runoff general election held on Aug. 4 if no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote.

Sudiksha Kochi contributed.

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