Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick Resigns Amid Growing Scrutiny

Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida has resigned from Congress effective immediately, avoiding formal ethics discipline after a House committee found she committed 25 violations of House rules.

The resignation comes as the House Ethics Committee was set to weigh punishment for the Florida representative, who was also indicted by a federal grand jury in November for allegedly misusing more than $5 million in federal disaster relief funds from her company in her 2021 congressional campaign.

In her statement, Cherfilus-McCormick said the Ethics Committee refused her new attorney’s reasonable request for time to prepare a defense, calling the process unfair and a “witch-hunt.” She stated that instead of playing “political games,” she chose to step away to devote time to “fighting for my neighbors in Florida’s 20th district.”

Her resignation avoids a likely expulsion vote and follows a pattern of increased scrutiny, as two other lawmakers also resigned during ethics investigations in recent days.

The House Ethics Committee had found Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 violations of House rules and ethical standards, primarily centered on campaign finance violations involving the use of COVID-19 disaster relief funds.

Cherfilus-McCormick, who has represented Florida’s 20th congressional district since 2021, explained her decision in an extended social media statement on Tuesday, asserting that the internal investigation process denied her and her legal team adequate preparation time.

Her resignation marks the latest development in a growing trend of congressional members stepping down amid ethics investigations, reflecting intensifying scrutiny of misconduct in the House of Representatives.