A bipartisan House Ethics Committee subcommittee has voted to advance proceedings that could lead to the expulsion of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Florida, pushing the embattled congresswoman one step closer to being removed from Congress.

The adjudicatory subcommittee rejected a request by Cherfilus-McCormick's attorney to halt the proceedings and then approved a motion for summary judgment, effectively finding her guilty of nearly all alleged violations outlined in a 27-count statement of charges. The rare public hearing, held Thursday (March 26), was the first of its kind since 2010.

Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2025. Federal prosecutors allege she and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, 51, stole more than $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds that had been overpaid to their family health care company, Trinity Health Care Services, as part of a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract. Rather than return the money, prosecutors say the two laundered it through multiple bank accounts to hide its origin, with some funds used to finance Cherfilus-McCormick's 2021 congressional campaign. She is also accused of participating in a straw donor scheme and conspiring to file a false federal tax return. If convicted on all counts, she faces up to 53 years in prison.

Cherfilus-McCormick has denied all wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in federal court. "Make no mistake: I am innocent and I am a fighter," she said in a statement. "I will continue to fight for the people I was elected to serve."

At Thursday's hearing, her attorney, William Barzee, argued that the public ethics proceedings could taint potential jurors in the ongoing criminal case. "The risk is to a violation of her constitutional rights to a fair trial," Barzee told the committee. "This is not a criminal trial, and as such it's going to have different standards of proof involved."

Committee members pushed back firmly. Rep. Brad Knott, R-North Carolina, a former federal prosecutor, told Barzee it is "the job of the defense counsel" to ensure jurors consider only evidence presented at trial. Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Maryland, added, "We don't need her to testify," dismissing claims that the probe threatened Cherfilus-McCormick's Fifth Amendment rights.

Cherfilus-McCormick said she is "deeply disappointed" the committee moved forward, calling it a violation of her due process rights. "I urge the Committee to follow its own precedents and uphold fairness and not allow this process to be driven by politics or numbers," she said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said he believes in "due process" but that Cherfilus-McCormick "has egregiously violated the law." "This is a very serious matter," Johnson said. "It seems that this member of Congress has egregiously violated the law and exploited taxpayers."

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Florida, has already drafted an expulsion resolution and says he will move forward with it regardless of the ethics panel's final recommendation. Under House rules, expulsion requires a two-thirds majority vote, meaning a significant number of Democrats would need to vote in favor. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, has so far refused to condemn the allegations against Cherfilus-McCormick, responding only with "next question" when asked about the expulsion threat. House Democratic Conference Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-California, said Wednesday (March 25) that he respects the committee's work but stopped short of taking a position.

The last member expelled from Congress was former Rep. George Santos, R-New York, in 2023, before an ethics hearing or criminal conviction. Santos later pleaded guilty to identity theft and wire fraud, but had his sentence commuted by President Donald Trump. The last public Ethics Committee hearing before Thursday's was held in 2010, when former Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-New York, was censured for tax violations and other misconduct.

Steube has argued that a bipartisan expulsion recommendation from the committee would put Democratic leadership in a difficult position. "If the committee in a bipartisan manner recommends an expulsion, that puts the Democratic caucus in a very tough position because you would be undermining your own members on the Ethics Committee," he said. Cherfilus-McCormick's federal criminal trial has not yet been scheduled, and her ultimate fate — both in Congress and in federal court — remains unresolved.

Ross Kaminsky on the News with Jeana Gondek