Expulsion threats force out two House members; Two more hang in balance

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Two House members are on their way out of Congress as Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) announced their resignations Monday evening in the face of building efforts to expel them over sexual misconduct allegations.

Swalwell’s announcement came first, completing his stunning fall from arguable front-runner in the California gubernatorial race to being pushed out of a job within days.

He has maintained his innocence in the face of four women coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him, but he said he didn’t want to distract from his office’s responsibilities to his constituents.

“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” he said in a statement posted on the social platform X. “I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”

“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. But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” he said.

After days of rumors online of misconduct allegations, the San Francisco Chronicle first reported accusations from a former Swalwell aide who said the congressman sexually assaulted her twice when she was too intoxicated to give consent. CNN shortly after published its own report detailing allegations from three other women who made separate accusations against Swalwell, while one former staffer alleged rape.

Within days of the reports on Friday, Swalwell had lost both of his campaign co-chairs and all of his endorsements from congressional Democrats. He dropped out of the race Sunday evening.

The growing calls for Swalwell to give up his House seat also raised the heat on Gonzales, who already ended his reelection bid last month following pressure over his affair with a former staffer who later died by suicide.

An effort from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) to expel Swalwell and Gonzales gained steam as members of both parties called on them to resign or be ousted. Luna said earlier Monday that she thought she had enough support to expel them.

Gonzales signaled he would resign once the House returns from recess Tuesday.

“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office,” he said in a post on X on Monday, just an hour after Swalwell’s announcement. “It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas.”

While Gonzales didn’t use the word resign in his message, NOTUS reported that he told the outlet he will step down Tuesday.

Still, a spokesperson for Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), who was leading the push to expel Gonzales, told Axios she would file the expulsion resolution this afternoon at the earliest moment if Gonzales’s resignation isn’t effective immediately.

Swalwell and Gonzales didn’t say exactly when their resignations would take effect.

While their announcements make any push to expel them unnecessary, they leave a question on the implications for two other members of Congress — Florida Reps. Cory Mills (R) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D). The push to expel Swalwell and Gonzales raised questions about whether the House would also expel the Florida House members.

Mills is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged dating violence and campaign finance violations, among other allegations of wrongdoing that he has denied. The Ethics Committee found Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 ethics violations related to allegations that she used federal disaster funds for her campaign, which she has also denied.

The committee has a public hearing scheduled for next week to determine what sanctions against Cherfilus-McCormick would be appropriate.

▪ Politico: The whisper network that caught up to Swalwell

▪ Vox: Swalwell’s downfall, explained

Smart Take with Blake Burman

The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports began Monday, as traffic through the all-important Strait of Hormuz remains significantly lower than usual. The strait is one way in, one way........

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