The House is moving toward a historic week of disciplinary action targeting two Florida representatives, a rare occurrence that could mark the seventh and eighth expulsions from Congress in American history.
Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democrat, stands at the immediate center of the action. The House Ethics Committee has found her guilty of funneling $5 million in COVID relief funds into her own congressional campaign, among other charges. Though she maintains her innocence, Speaker Mike Johnson signaled support last week for introducing an expulsion resolution as soon as Tuesday, pending the committee's formal recommendation.
Her Republican colleague, Cory Mills, faces a more complicated path. He is under investigation for financial misconduct, campaign finance violations, and sexual misconduct allegations, which he also denies. Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a resolution Monday to expel Mills simultaneously with Cherfilus-McCormick, but the Ethics Committee investigation into Mills remains ongoing, with findings potentially months away.
The timing reflects a broader wave of departures. Reps. Tony Gonzales of Texas and Eric Swalwell of California resigned last week rather than face imminent expulsion votes over sexual misconduct allegations, both of which they denied.
The Political Calculus
Expulsion requires a two-thirds majority, a steep threshold that takes on added weight in a narrowly divided chamber where both parties guard their seat counts carefully. That mathematical reality shapes the politics around each case differently.
For Cherfilus-McCormick, the outcome appears assured. Republicans are expected to vote en masse for expulsion, and enough Democrats are likely to follow suit given the Ethics Committee's finding of guilt.
Mills' fate is murkier. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to commit his caucus to supporting expulsion before the Ethics Committee completes its investigation, citing the need for due process. He called for the probe to be accelerated so the House can vote on Mills' future, but stopped short of backing a measure that would expel him now. Republicans aligned with Mills can point to the incomplete investigation as justification for withholding support, potentially sparing him from the two-thirds threshold needed for removal.
Johnson similarly dodged questions about whether Mills should face an expulsion vote, signaling less enthusiasm for that resolution than for Cherfilus-McCormick's.
The procedural dynamics underscore how expulsion, despite its rarity and gravity, remains entangled in partisan considerations even when both parties' members face allegations.
Author James Rodriguez: "The two-thirds rule is supposed to protect against weaponized expulsions, but it also creates a perverse incentive for wavering lawmakers to hide behind process arguments when it suits them."
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