April 13, 2026
A Republican and a Democrat just announced they are resigning from congress over sexual misconduct allegations. The Democrat — Representative Eric Swalwell of California not only dropped out of the race for California governor, he just announced he is resigning his house seat in congress too. And seconds ago – Republican representative Tony Gonzalez from Texas also said he’s out. Here’s the thing – Swalwell and Gonzalez aren’t the only one who may be out of congress *before* the midterm elections.
Let’s start with Swalwell. He just posted to his social media page saying “it’s wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties, therefore I plan to resign my seat in congress.” We need to acknowledge the absolute speed in which Swalwell fell. Just four days he was the leading Democrat in the race to be the next governor of California. But bombshell allegations of sexual assault were brought against him by former female staffers. Immediately he lost key endorsements and support in California. There were calls for him to drop out of the race. By Saturday the Manhattan District Attorney’s office put out a statement saying it was opening an investigation into those assault allegations because they happened in New York. By Sunday, the calls were getting louder in congress for him to resign from his house seat too…in fact many Democrats said they supported a resolution to expel Swalwell from his seat if he refused to step down. Yesterday, Swalwell said he was dropping out of the race for California governor. And today – the House ethics committee announced it was opening an investigation into him too. Then just a short time ago Swalwell said he was resigning.
He apologized in his post saying “I am deeply sorry to my family, staff and constituents for mistakes in judgement I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious false allegations made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership of the mistakes I did make. He then went on to say of the movement that is clearly in motion to expel him from congress – that “expelling anyone in congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made is wrong.” But then he said he would resign and he will work with his staff in the coming days to ensure they’re able to serve the needs of the good people of the 14th congressional district.” He did not say when his last day would be.
As for representative Tony Gonzalez…he just posted to his social media page saying – “there is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When congress returns tomorrow I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas. Now Tony Gonzalez has been under investigation by the House ethics committee for a while over allegations of sexual misconduct with a staffer…that woman ultimately took her own life. Gonzalez had already said that he would not run for re-election but when the Swalwell thing really started to heat up — the calls started coming from inside the Republican house for Gonzalez to step down right now.
Now – as I mentioned, Swalwell and Gonzalez aren’t the only ones who may be out of congress sooner rather than later. Another democrat Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida is on the verge of being expelled. The House ethics committee concluded she violated ethics rules after a grand jury indicted her on charges she stole pandemic relief funds. She has denied any wrong doing. And then there’s Republican representative from Florida Cory Mills who is also under investigation by House ethics over allegations of campaign finance violations and accusations of sexual misconduct and-or dating violence.
The House will be returning from recess tomorrow and it is possible that we could see expulsion votes for these two. This is serious and it doesn’t happen very often. In congress’s 237 year history there have only been six members expelled. The last was of course Republican Representative from New York George Santos in 2023.
Read Swalwell’s post here.
Read Gonzalez’s post here.
