Florida Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick has resigned from Congress.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Congresswoman announced her immediate resignation on Tuesday.

‘I hereby resign my office from the 119th Congress as Representative for Florida’s 20th Congressional District, effective Tuesday April 21, 2026; 1:30pm,’ Cherfilus-McCormick stated.

‘After careful reflection and prayer, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of my constituents and the institution that I step aside at this time,’ she added.

‘I remain committed to supporting a smooth transition and ensuring continuity of service for the district,’ she concluded.

Late last month, the House Ethics Committee, made up of an even split of four Democrats and four Republicans, found that the Democratic congresswoman had committed numerous violations of House rules and ethics standards, including the alleged theft of over $5m in taxpayer funds. 

The ethics panel stated that Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 ethics violations,  noting at the time that it would recommend a punishment in the coming weeks. The release of their recommendations was set to take place on Tuesday at 2:00 PM.

Cherfilus-McCormick joins her former colleagues, Tony Gonzales and Eric Swalwell, who resigned last week amid pending ethics inquiries. Gonzales and Swalwell’s alleged misconduct was sexual in nature, while Cherfilus-McCormick’s was fiscal.

Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, was pictured with a large diamond ring on her hand in her official Congressional  portrait

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat. sits alongside her lawyer during a hearing of the House Ethics Committee on Capitol Hill on March 26, 2026 in Washington, DC

The congresswoman, along with a handful of co-conspirators is accused of steering money that came into a family health-care company she ran with her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, into her campaign coffers through ‘straw donations.’

Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami in November.

The indictment from Cherfilus–McCormick’s case said she purchased a 3.14–carat ‘Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond’ ring from a New York jeweler for $109,000, per CBS12. The congresswoman’s official house portrait appears to show a similar piece of jewelry adorning her finger.

Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, second right, is flanked by her husband Corlie McCormick, right, and her two children, as she speaks to the press and supporters at an election night party following a special election, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted.  

Between the rare public hearing, criminal allegations, and the control of Congress hanging in the balance as the resignation or expulsion of a Democrat could widen the narrow GOP majority, this ethics battle is noteworthy but not unprecedented.

The last member to be expelled from the chamber was ex-Congressman George Santos, who was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for misleading donors and spending campaign money fraudulently. The 2023 vote against Santos was 311-114.

Santos had his sentence commuted by Trump after serving around three months in prison.