Swalwell, Gonzales exits shift spotlight to other embattled lawmakers

The dual announcements from Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) on Monday that they plan to exit Congress have shifted the spotlight to two other members embroiled in ethical controversies on Capitol Hill: Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) and Cory Mills (R-Fla.).

For the last three days, since the blistering allegations of sexual assault against Swalwell surfaced, there was a rolling wave of resignation calls for both him and Gonzales, who is enmeshed in his own sexual misconduct scandal. Members of both parties were crafting resolutions of expulsion targeting both lawmakers that were expected to hit the floor this week. The others were an afterthought.

But in stunning back-to-back announcements, Swalwell and Gonzales quickly defused the brewing expulsion campaign by taking matters into their own hands and announcing their exits from Congress.

Swalwell, at 5:25 p.m., said he is innocent of the most serious accusations against him, but wants to fight them privately to spare his family and constituents the indignity of enduring the scandal. 

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

Gonzales has been in a similar predicament for many months longer. He has acknowledged an extramarital affair with a staffer who later died by setting herself on fire. And he’s also facing accusations of sending sexually explicit messages to a former campaign aide. Yet it wasn’t until Swalwell announced his resignation that Gonzales released his own statement.

“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,” Gonzales wrote on X at 6:30 p.m. 

“It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas.”

It wasn’t immediately clear, however, when Gonzales would leave Congress. He had previously announced he would not run for reelection.

The ethics watchdogs on Capitol Hill cheered the developments, but it hasn’t left them idle.

They’re still closely watching for Gonzales to follow through.

“He has until 2PM tomorrow—when we will file his expulsion. He better write that resignation ‘effective immediately,’” Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) wrote on X.

And they’ve shifted their sights to another set of scandals involving Cherfilus-McCormick, who is accused of funneling millions in improperly paid disaster funds into her campaign, and Mills, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations.

A House Ethics subcommittee last month announced that the panel had proven 25 of 27 counts of ethics violations against Cherfilus-McCormick, who is under federal indictment over allegations that she stole $5 million from FEMA disaster funds for personal use. The committee has scheduled a hearing on April 21 to determine what kind of sanctions would be appropriate to take against her, and at least one fellow Floridian is eagerly awaiting that report to launch a bid to boot her from office.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) has already filed a resolution to expel Cherfilus-McCormick, with plans to move it to the House floor as soon as the Ethics findings are released. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) — the leading champion of expelling Swalwell and Gonzales — said she would “fully be backing” the effort. 

Mills, meanwhile, is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations that he used his power as a sitting congressman to steer federal contracts to the weapons business that he owns. A former girlfriend also obtained a restraining order against him for harassment.

Several members have already called for both of them to be expelled, even before Swalwell announced his resignation, including Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.). 

“Two down. Two to go,” Mace wrote on X.

There are inklings of partisanship driving the debate. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), for instance, notably called for Cherfilus-McCormick to go, but not Mills. And Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) did the opposite.

The calls are poised to become a new headache for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has maintained that the Ethics panel should complete its investigations before the chamber takes action to punish its members. 

They also threaten to upend a busy week for Johnson, who is seeking to unify Republicans around an 18-month extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) warrantless surveillance powers ahead of an April 20 expiration date and a funding deal to end a record-long partial government shutdown, while managing the political fallout from President Trump’s war in Iran.

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