By Olivia Beavers and Terell Wright
WASHINGTON -- Two members of Congress -- Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas -- said Monday they planned to exit Congress in the wake of sexual-misconduct allegations that sparked calls for them to quit or face expulsion votes.
"I am aware of an effort to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members," Swalwell said in a statement. "Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong. But it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress."
Just over an hour later, Gonzales said in a brief statement that "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."
House leaders have been facing loud demands to hold votes to kick out Swalwell and Gonzales after the chamber returns Tuesday from its two-week Easter recess. Lawmakers argue that the allegations facing both men disqualified them from office and that forcing them to leave will send a strong message that such behavior has gone on too long and won't be tolerated further on Capitol Hill.
The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN last week published accounts from women accusing Swalwell of sexual misconduct, including an unnamed former Swalwell staff member who said he had sexually assaulted her. The Manhattan district attorney's office is investigating the allegations, one of which concerns an alleged incident in New York City. The House Ethics Committee separately announced an investigation into the allegations on Monday.
Swalwell, 45 years old, has strongly denied the allegations of rape. In a social-media message late Sunday, in which Swalwell announced that he was suspending his campaign in the California governor's race, the lawmaker said he "will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made."
Gonzales, also 45, admitted last month to having an affair with a staffer who later died after setting herself on fire but denied being the cause of her death. He dropped his re-election bid but has remained in Congress.
Some members have also called for the expulsion of two other embattled lawmakers, Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Republican Rep. Cory Mills, both of Florida, who have been under scrutiny from House investigators for months.
All four of the lawmakers should resign, said Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D., N.Y.) on social media. "If they refuse, they should be expelled." Rep. Nancy Mace (R., S.C.) agreed. "The House needs to be cleaned out, and it starts with these four," she said.
The push for expulsion votes set the stage for a chaotic week and threatened to overshadow other urgent items on Congress's to-do list, including funding the Department of Homeland Security and reauthorizing the foreign-surveillance law known as FISA. It also ratcheted up pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), who has pushed for a slower, deliberative approach to resolving discipline cases in the chamber.
Swalwell's planned exit from Congress marked a precipitous fall for the seven-term Bay Area congressman, who went from jockeying for the lead in polling for the governor's race last week to suspending his campaign Sunday and announcing plans to resign from his House seat a day later.
The former prosecutor built name recognition through social media and cable television appearances as a critic of President Trump and has been seen as a rising star in the party, even launching a short-lived bid for president in 2019.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), a political mentor, named Swalwell as a manager for Trump's second impeachment trial, following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. After the misconduct allegations emerged, however, Pelosi joined calls for Swalwell to quit the governor race. Another close ally, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.), issued a statement saying he should be expelled from the House. "It is now clear that he is not the person I thought I knew," Gallego said.
Ahead of Swalwell's announcement, lawmakers had coalesced around the idea of an even trade -- one Democrat for one Republican -- to spread the ignominy across both parties and preserve the fragile balance of power in the House, where Republicans have a tiny majority. Expelling a member requires a two-thirds vote, needing overwhelming support from both parties.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R., Fla.) said she would file a motion to expel Swalwell, while exploring whether she can pair that with a motion to expel Gonzales. Rep. Byron Donalds (R., Fla.) is among the Republicans who said they would vote to expel both Swalwell and Gonzales, while Reps. Jared Huffman (D., Calif.) and Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) are advocating for the move on the Democratic side.
Johnson pushed for any action to wait until after the House Ethics Committee, a member-run panel, conducts an investigation into allegations and produces a report. Such a report fueled the successful drive to oust then-Rep. George Santos (R., N.Y.) in 2023.
Democrats have typically taken a hard line on policing members of their own ranks over sexual-misconduct allegations, notably forcing out Sen. Al Franken in 2018 after he was accused by several women of groping or forcibly kissing them during rehearsals or while posing for photos. When the Swalwell allegations were first revealed Friday, Democratic allies immediately pulled their endorsements and party leaders joined rank-and-file members in demanding he quit the governor's race. Within hours, some Democrats were saying he should leave his House seat.
The spotlight on Swalwell also energized efforts to punish the other members: Gonzales, Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills, who are also being probed by the Ethics Committee.
Cherfilus-McCormick is accused of improperly using federal disaster funds to finance her 2021 House campaign. In November, she was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing $5 million that was improperly sent to her family's healthcare company. She has pleaded not guilty.
A spokeswoman for Cherfilus-McCormick said the lawmaker doesn't plan to resign and "looks forward to proving her innocence."
Mills is being investigated for domestic violence and campaign-finance allegations. Mills said last year that the accusations would be "proven to be absolutely false." Mills's office didn't respond to a request for comment.
Sexual-misconduct claims have particular gravity in Congress this year, after a fight to force the Justice Department to release files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Last month, Mace -- one of four House Republicans who pushed for the Epstein files to be made public -- forced a vote to compel the Ethics Committee to release records of its investigation into Gonzales. Both Republican and Democratic members of the committee criticized Mace's measure, saying it would hurt victims' ability to cooperate with investigations.
Expulsions in the House are rare. Of the six members who have been expelled since the nation's founding, three were removed for fighting for the Confederacy and three others for financial-related allegations.
Santos, the most recent, was expelled after the ethics panel found that he "blatantly stole from his campaign" and "sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit." It was the first time the House expelled someone who wasn't a felon or a member of the Confederacy.
He was later convicted of federal charges and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Trump subsequently commuted his sentence.
Other members embroiled in scandal have quit, including former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R., Neb.), who resigned in 2022 after he was convicted of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Democratic Rep. Katie Hill of California, who left Congress in 2019 after admitting she had an intimate relationship with a campaign staffer.
Write to Terell Wright at terell.wright@wsj.com and Olivia Beavers at Olivia.Beavers@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 13, 2026 18:55 ET (22:55 GMT)
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