Swalwell faces bipartisan push to expel him from the House
WASHINGTON— The sexual assault allegations that scuttled Rep. Eric Swalwell’s bid to become governor of California now threaten to end his congressional career as lawmakers from both parties say they would support a vote to expel him from the House.
Swalwell withdrew from the California gubernatorial primary on Sunday night after accusations of sexual assault and misconduct from a former staffer and other women devastated his campaign and alienated his closest allies. Swalwell, who denied the accusations, did not say whether he was considering resigning from his seat in the House of Representatives.
However, the details of the allegations are included in the reports. San Francisco Chronicle And CNNHe drew swift bipartisan condemnation, with lawmakers calling the accusations “disgusting” and demanding that Congress hold him accountable by impeaching him.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) is leading the expulsion of Swalwell. In an interview Monday, Luna said he plans to: Make a recommendation as early as Tuesday for violating House rules regarding an alleged improper sexual relationship with a subordinate. He said an early vote could be held as early as Wednesday.
Democrats have called on Swalwell to resign, but they won’t act alone against Swalwell when it comes to expulsion. They are also pushing for the deportation of Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas), who admitted last month to having sexual intercourse with an employee who later died by suicide. Luna thinks there’s enough support to do both.
“I definitely think we have the votes to expel both of them,” Luna said in an interview Monday morning. “If we don’t hold our own parties accountable, it reflects poorly on us overall.”
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat from New Mexico, said she would support the motion to expel Swalwell and introduce the motion to expel Gonzalez.
“As I have said before, Gonzalez and Swalwell are ineligible to serve in Congress due to their sexual crimes against women who work for them,” Fernandez wrote on X on Sunday. “They should resign or be expelled”
If successful, these expulsions would be the first in congressional history for sexual misconduct and would be among the rare instances in the 237-year history of the House of Representatives in which members have expelled their own members.
Only six members were expelled From the Parliament. Three of them were fighting for the Confederacy, two were convicted of bribery, and one was con artist George Santos, whose sentence was later commuted by President Trump.
Longtime ethics expert Meredith McGehee said members have been reluctant to expel colleagues in recent years because the majority in the House is so slim, but not doing so hurts the institution’s credibility.
“It’s really important right now that the House takes action to expel these men who are seriously and credibly accused of wrongdoing,” said McGehee, the former executive director of the ethics watchdog. First Issue. “It would be a farce to allow either of them to remain in office and let their term expire.”
The Swalwell scandal could lead to further calls for expulsion. Some lawmakers are calling for two more members to be included in any expulsion vote: Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), who is accused of sexual assault, and Rep. Sheila Cherfilous-McCormick (D-Fla.), who is indicted on charges that she laundered $5 million in federal disaster money and used it to fund a political campaign.
“Representatives Swalwell, Gonzales, Cherfilus-McCormick, and Mills should resign. If they refuse, they should be expelled,” said Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.). wrote to x Monday. “Americans deserve better and Congress must hold our members accountable.”
Any expulsion requires a two-thirds majority vote, or 290 out of 435 votes if every member of the House participates.
It is not yet known whether this threshold can be met.
Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee said Monday that it had launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct against Swalwell.
The Republican-led committee said in a statement that it would examine whether Swalwell “violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of his duties or discharge of his responsibilities regarding allegations that he may have engaged in sexual harassment, including against an employee under his supervision.”
The committee’s statement added: “The fact that it investigated these allegations and publicly announced its review does not in itself mean that any violations have occurred.”
