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FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from Congress today, hours before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on recommending her expulsion. The committee’s two-year bipartisan investigation found her guilty of 25 violations of House rules tied to her theft of $5 million in federal disaster relief funds and the laundering of those funds into her 2022 congressional campaign. Cherfilus-McCormick continues to face a 15-count federal criminal indictment carrying up to 53 years in prison, including charges of theft of government funds, wire fraud, and money laundering. Her federal trial is scheduled for February 2027.

Elijah Manley, Democratic candidate for Congress in Florida’s 20th Congressional District, released the following statement:

“Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick did not resign out of conscience. She resigned to avoid being formally expelled from Congress by her own colleagues. She still stole $5 million meant for families recovering from disaster. She still laundered it into a congressional campaign built on a lie. She still faces a 15-count federal indictment and up to 53 years in prison, and that accountability must continue.

But the people of FL-20 cannot be left without a voice in Washington. I am calling on Governor Ron DeSantis to move quickly and set a special election so the families of this district have representation during this critical period. Every day without a representative is another day working people in South Florida are pushed aside.

I was raised in Sistrunk by a single mother, many days in homelessness and poverty. I have spent years organizing alongside the families of this district. Now this district deserves a special election to elect a representative who will fight for the things working families actually need: housing they can afford, a living wage, healthcare as a right, and a Congress that finally works for them."

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