A Democratic congresswoman is staring down the prospect of expulsion from the House after a rare, marathon Ethics Committee hearing over allegations that she siphoned off millions in COVID-19 relief dollars to fuel her political rise.
Republican Florida Rep. Greg Steube is preparing to introduce a resolution to expel Democratic Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick following Thursdays seven-hour public hearing, during which the House Ethics Committee examined 27 alleged violations of chamber rules. According to the Daily Caller, the committee has been probing the Florida Democrat since September 2023, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted her in November on 15 federal counts that together carry a potential maximum sentence of 53 years in prison if she is convicted.
This is disgraceful. The American people deserve better than corruption in Congress, Steube declared in a post on X after the hearing concluded. Im ready to expel Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick! he added, signaling that House Republicans are prepared to move swiftly against a colleague they say abused both public trust and taxpayer money.
At the center of the case are allegations that Cherfilus-McCormick used her familys companies to embezzle $5 million in emergency COVID-19 relief funds, money the State of Florida allegedly miscalculated due to a misplaced decimal point. Investigators say those funds were then steered into her 2021 special election campaign to succeed the late Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings, effectively turning pandemic aid into a political war chest.
The Ethics Committee also scrutinized what it described as illegal in-kind contributions from an entity linked to her former campaign manager, who oversaw both her 2021 and 2022 campaigns.
Such contributions, if proven, would represent serious violations of federal campaign finance law and House ethics rules, further undercutting Democrats claims to be the party of good government and reform.
Federal prosecutors have charged Cherfilus-McCormick with conspiracy, theft of government funds, money laundering, illegal campaign contributions and falsifying tax documents. The breadth of the indictment underscores the gravity of the accusations, placing her among the most legally imperiled members of Congress in recent memory.
This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment and I am innocent, Cherfilus-McCormick insisted in a Nov. 20 statement. She remained silent in public during Thursdays Ethics Committee hearing, communicating instead by passing notes and whispering to her attorneys as the panels counsel laid out the case against her.
Cherfilus-McCormick has portrayed herself as the victim of a political witch hunt, a familiar refrain in Washington when serious allegations surface. Yet she reportedly sought a pardon from President Donald Trump during last years White House Christmas party, according to the Hill, a move that raises questions about how confident she truly is in her own defense.
The Ethics Committee, in a case summary released Wednesday, said Cherfilus-McCormick has made no meaningful argument to rebut these findings in the more than two years that this matter has been ongoing. Committee counsel further testified that her legal team offered scant evidence to counter the panels conclusions, leaving the impression of a defense more focused on process complaints than substantive refutation.
William Barzee, Cherfilus-McCormicks criminal defense attorney, argued that forcing his client into a public Ethics hearing while she awaits trial is a risky endeavor because congressional proceedings follow different evidentiary rules than federal court. The difficulty here is that youre going to have members of the public who are also potential jurors in the primal matter, hearing about facts they otherwise would never be exposed, Barzee told the panel.
Those potential jurors can end up on her jury and can include those facts in the decision making in an inappropriate way, he continued, effectively suggesting that transparency in Congress could taint the jury pool. His argument, while legally understandable, sits uneasily with voters who expect accountability from elected officials, not procedural shields from scrutiny.
Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a former public defender who does not sit on the Ethics Committee, attended the first hour of the hearing, conspicuously wearing a brown fedora. Its an open hearing, Crockett said Thursday when asked why she was present, a brief comment that nonetheless signaled Democratic interest in monitoring the proceedings.
Elijah Manley, 27, Cherfilus-McCormicks top challenger in the August Democratic primary, also took a seat in the hearing room.
Its important for the district to have some eyes into this entire process, Manley told Florida Politics on Thursday.
People are confused back at home, and I want to be able to report back to the district whats happening. But also, as somebody whos hoping to succeed the Congresswoman, I think being here is important, he added, underscoring how the scandal is already reshaping the political landscape in her South Florida district.
The disputed COVID-19 relief funds were supposed to total $50,000, but a misplaced decimal point turned that into a $5 million windfall that landed in the account of Trinity Healthcare Services, Cherfilus-McCormicks healthcare company, in July 2021. From there, the money was allegedly routed into multiple businesses owned by members of her family, a pattern prosecutors say was designed to obscure the true source and purpose of the funds.
Barzee contended that the lack of formal documentation for transfers among the family businesses reflected cultural norms rather than criminal intent. In the Haitian American community, it is not unusual for these types of agreements to be made orally, to be made with a handshake, Barzee told the panel, attempting to frame the transactions as informal but legitimate.
The DOJ, however, described the movements of money very differently in a November 2025 press release, asserting that the funds were sent to other entities without proper records to disguise its source. Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime, Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in the release.
No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice, Bondi vowed, echoing a sentiment many conservatives share about restoring integrity to public office.
The House Ethics Committee has not convened a public hearing on allegations against a sitting lawmaker since 2010, when it found former Democratic New York Rep. Charlie Rangel guilty on 11 ethics violations related to tax and rental income. This is one of the most serious corruption cases involving a sitting member of Congress to come along in years, commentator Scott Jennings said of Cherfilus-McCormick on his Salem News Channel program Wednesday.
Only six members of Congress have ever been expelled by their peers, with former Republican New York Rep. George Santos being the most recent in December 2023. Whether Cherfilus-McCormick joins that short, infamous list now rests with a House that must decide if it will treat alleged pandemic-era corruption with the seriousness taxpayers deserve, or allow yet another scandal to fade into the background of Washingtons culture of impunity.
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