A bipartisan House Ethics investigative subcommittee voted to proceed with an unprecedented process that could lead to the expulsion of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., who is accused of laundering millions of disaster relief funds into her campaign account.
The House Ethics investigative subcommittee approved a motion for summary judgment, finding her guilty of nearly all alleged violations outlined by the committee earlier this year.
The verdict came after a rare public ethics hearing yesterday — the first such public hearing since 2010 — which lasted more than six hours as lawmakers from both parties questioned Cherfilus-McCormick’s lawyers.
The eight-member subcommittee, led by Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., announced its decision in a written statement Friday morning.
“After careful deliberation that lasted until well past midnight, the adjudicatory subcommittee found that Counts 1-15 and 17-26 of the SAV [statement of alleged violations] had been proven,” committee leaders said in a statement.
The panel’s myriad charges against Cherfilus-McCormick, who is facing a separate federal criminal indictment that levies a federal prison sentence of over 50 years, ranged from using ineligible funds to finance her campaign to repeatedly filing false financial disclosure forms and seeking “special favors” with recipients of earmark funding requests.
The panel will meet after the Easter recess to determine its recommended punishment, which could be as severe as expulsion from Capitol Hill.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., has vowed to move forward with his resolution that would expel Cherfilus-McCormick regardless of the outcome.
Under House rules, two-thirds of lawmakers have to agree to expel a member, which means Steube’s resolution would need the support of some Democrats.
House Democratic leadership has largely stood by Cherfilus-McCormick so far, though some congressional Democrats are signaling their discomfort with the allegations against their indicted colleague.
“The allegations before us are extremely serious,” Rep. Mark Desaulnier, D-Calif., said at the start of the hearing Thursday.
“They not only concern an individual member’s conduct, they also implicate the public’s confidence in the House’s integrity as an institution.”
Cherfilus-McCormick, who first won election to Congress in 2021, is accused of stealing more than $5 million in disaster relief funds that were improperly paid to her family’s healthcare company, among other criminal allegations.
She and her siblings allegedly used the funds to jumpstart her congressional campaign and for personal use, including the purchase of a large diamond ring that Cherfilus-McCormick appeared to have worn in her official congressional portrait.
Cherfilus-McCormick has pleaded not guilty to federal charges brought in 2025.
If convicted in federal court, Cherfilus-McCormick, 47, faces up to 53 years in prison.