House Ethics Panel Finds Democrat Guilty of Serious Misconduct

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After deliberating well into Friday morning, a bipartisan adjudicatory subcommittee of the House Ethics Committee concluded that Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) committed serious campaign finance violations. That determination puts the lawmaker, who is also facing related criminal charges, in jeopardy of being kicked out of the House and also poses a major headache for Democratic leaders.

Regardless of which penalty the full Ethics Committee proposes when it convenes next month, Republicans will almost certainly push for her expulsion in a bid to expand their razor-thin edge in the chamber.

However, since that would require a two-thirds majority, they cannot do so along purely partisan lines and would need one-third of all Democrats to vote with them.

And that puts House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in a massive bind.

On the one hand, he would like to keep the GOP majority in the chamber as small as possible, which the Democrats could achieve by voting against expulsion (while hoping that Cherfilus-McCormick will lose her primary in August and no longer be their problem).

A possible justification for such a move would be the lawmaker’s insistence that she is innocent and that this process is driven by politics.

“[The Ethics Committee’s decision] raises serious concerns about due process and the fundamental rights every American is entitled to under our Constitution,” she said in a statement.

However, even Democrats on the Ethics Committee weren’t buying it, as evidenced by them supporting the panel’s findings, which highlights that the political costs of blocking her expulsion would be enormous.

Democrats have (rightfully) pointed to the corruption of Donald Trump and his administration, and one of their arguments for why Americans should give them control of Congress is to exercise the kind of oversight that Republicans are refusing to provide.

Therefore, it would be an extremely bad look if they were to protect one of their own who was not only indicted but also found guilty of serious misconduct by a bipartisan ethics panel.

This is especially true because of the nature of the crimes Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of.

At the heart of her case is a $5 million overpayment she received from disaster relief funds for her family’s healthcare business. Instead of paying it back, she allegedly funneled the money to her campaign through family members while also using some of the funds to purchase a large diamond ring among other things.

In other words, it’s the kind of crime that Republicans claim is rampant in blue states like Minnesota and California.

If Democrats do not vote to oust Cherfilus-McCormick, she risks becoming an enormous political liability.

Ultimately, we believe that enough of them will join with Republicans to boot her from the House, which would also allow the Democrats to show that they are different from the GOP and willing to punish corruption in their own ranks (it is important to note that the criminal case against the lawmaker was initiated during the Biden administration).

Within hours of the Ethics Committee’s announcement, the first House Democrat has already come forward to say that Cherfilus-McCormick has to go, one way or another.

“You can’t crime your way into legitimate power,” said Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA). “Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.”