Rep. Sheila Cherfilas-McCormick illegally spent millions of dollars on her campaign and committed various campaign finance violations, a bipartisan House Ethics subcommittee determined Friday — potentially laying the groundwork for a vote by the full legislative body to expel the embattled Florida Democrat.
The panel’s Judiciary Subcommittee, led by House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.), deliberated after midnight after an hours-long hearing, the panel’s first public “trial” in nearly 16 years. It found “clear and convincing” evidence that Cherfilas-McCormick was guilty of all but two of the 27 counts charged against him.
“Immediately after the House returns from April recess, the full committee will hold a hearing to determine what it would be appropriate for the committee to approve,” the guest and the panel’s top Democrat, Mark DeSaulnier of California, said in a joint statement.
“I look forward to proving my innocence,” Cherfilas-McCormick said in a statement. “Until then, my focus will remain where it belongs: performing for the great people of Florida’s 20th District who sent me to Washington to fight for them.”
The three-time MLA, who is also facing related criminal charges in her home state, did not vote in the House on Friday morning.
House GOP leadership believes they have the votes to expel Cherfilas-McCormick, should the panel recommend such a punishment. His removal would require a two-thirds vote — meaning some Democrats would need to support that effort — as opposed to the simple majority vote required for most House functioning.
So Democrats will soon have to decide whether to stand with one of their members or accept the Ethics Committee’s findings and support whatever punishment is recommended. It is possible that the panel may suggest a vote in the full House to expel the three-term MLA. But, if members opt for a more lenient punishment like a reprimand or censure, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) says he’s prepared to force a vote on expulsion anyway.
The last time the House voted to oust a colleague was former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in 2023. He was ultimately sentenced to prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/25/george-santos-prison-sentence-00309522","_Identification": :"0000019d-3031-dc78-a1bd-fbb7d7e00000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3031-dc78-a1bd-fbb7d7e00001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Wire fraud and aggravated identity theft His sentence was commuted only by President Donald Trump.
House Democrats were largely silent Friday morning after the Judiciary subcommittee announced the guilty verdicts. Many said they still needed to read the findings and were otherwise not ready to consider it.
House Minority Whip Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Representative Joe Neguse of Colorado, a senior member of the House Democratic leadership team, said he “intends to review” the decision and then “will issue a statement.”
“The Ethics Committee has confirmed that Sheila Cherfilas-McCormick broke the rules, and House Democrats are still saying nothing,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement Friday. “Their silence is a choice. Democrats can stand up for accountability or keep protecting a proven ethics violator, but voters won’t forget that.”
But Representative Mary Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), who recently led the charge to force a vote on the floor to reprimand fellow Democratic Representative Chuy Garcia of Illinois for planning the ascension of his chief of staff to his successor in retirement, was blunt.
“You can’t come to legitimate power by committing crimes,” the liberal lawmaker wrote in a post on X. “Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”
And Representative Mark Takano of California, the top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said the Ethics Committee’s bipartisan recommendation would be “quite compelling.”
Elijah Manley, Cherfilas-McCormick’s primary opponent, was surprisingly unsympathetic and eager to step down from office in a statement Friday.
“At this moment, the Congresswoman has been found guilty of serious misconduct by a committee of her peers in the House and she should immediately resign from Congress,” said Manley, who traveled to Washington to sit front row during Thursday’s hearing.
Cherfilas-McCormick and her attorneys sat before the House Ethics Judiciary Subcommittee for more than six and a half hours Friday afternoon and evening, according to a person who granted anonymity to share details of the private process, after which members went into a closed session and deliberated until 2 a.m.
It was the first such public hearing, or “trial”, of a sitting member of the House since 2010, when the late Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) faced allegations including improper solicitation of funds. he was finally found guilty","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/story/2010/11/rangel-guilty-on-11-ethics-charges-045198","_Identification": :"0000019d-3031-dc78-a1bd-fbb7d7e00002","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3031-dc78-a1bd-fbb7d7e00003","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>ultimately found guilty Most of them on charges, and the entire House voted to censure","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/story/2010/12/house-censures-defiant-rangel-045883","_Identification": :"0000019d-3031-dc78-a1bd-fbb7d7e00004","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-3031-dc78-a1bd-fbb7d7e00005","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>voted to censure him by a wide margin.
Cherfilas-McCormick’s attorney, William Barzee, repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings, arguing that he did not have enough time to present a fair case for his client because he had just been appointed to represent him. Barzee also said that a determination of guilt in the House ethics case could tarnish the fairness of his federal criminal trial. Ethics committee members were unimpressed.
One of the two cases in which members found Cherfilas-McCormick not guilty involved allegations that the lawmaker participated in the flow of money from a corporate entity called Petrogaz-Haiti to support her campaign. The Democrat’s lawyer, William Barzee, argued that the evidence was not sufficient to prove “money-laundering” by the required standard – a charge that involves financial transactions intended to conceal the source or receipt of funds. The panel of MPs seemed to agree.
The second charge on which Cherflius-McCormick escaped conviction was related to allegations of “lack of candor and diligence in the ethics investigation”.
Meredith Lee Hill and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.
