Swalwell scandal triggers plans in the House for a mass purge of misbehaving lawmakers

By Susan Ferrechio - The Washington Times - Monday, April 13, 2026

Pressure is mounting on House lawmakers to expel Rep. Eric Swalwell, the California Democrat accused of sexually inappropriate behavior and assaulting a woman who worked in his congressional office.

It also is bringing calls to rid the House of other lawmakers accused of serious misbehavior as both Republicans and Democrats battle to prevent an erosion of their numbers in a chamber with a razor-tight party divide.

Republicans and Democrats alike said they would vote to expel Mr. Swalwell over the bombshell sexual assault claims, which are under investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The six-term lawmaker ended his bid for California governor Sunday night under pressure from party leaders.

Although he has denied the charges, Mr. Swalwell now faces the possibility of losing his House seat. In a political tit-for-tat, he could drag several other lawmakers under scrutiny for their own misdeeds along with him.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican, said she will bring up a vote to oust Mr. Swalwell this week and may pair it with a resolution to expel Rep. Tony Gonzales, Texas Republican.

Ms. Luna’s announcement set the stage for an even bigger purge by lawmakers calling for resolutions to oust others, among them Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat facing a rare Ethics Committee hearing and federal charges over using millions of dollars in disaster relief money to fund her congressional campaigns. Lawmakers also could target Rep. Cory Mills, a Florida Republican under an Ethics Committee investigation for campaign finance violations, misusing congressional office funds and claims of sexual misconduct.

Mr. Gonzales is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over his alleged affair with a young woman who worked in his Uvalde, Texas, office. The woman died by suicide by setting herself on fire. Mr. Gonzales is not running for a second term.

“Congress should not tolerate representatives who abuse staff, betray public trust for personal gain, and generally violate their oath of office,” said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a veteran New York Democrat. “Reps. Swalwell, Gonzales, Cherfilus-McCormick, and Mills should resign. If they refuse, they should be expelled.”

The allegations against Mr. Swalwell were made public in several news outlets over the weekend.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday that Mr. Swalwell, a married father of three, was accused of sexually assaulting a former staffer twice when she was too intoxicated to consent. The first incident was in 2019. CNN reported that three other women said he had engaged in nonconsensual sex or sent inappropriate messages, including nude photos.

Adam Parkhomenko said his wife, Ally Sammarco, went on the record “so that hopefully this did not happen to other women and maybe it would help other women come forward.” Mr. Parkhomenko said his wife provided CNN with messages Mr. Swalwell had sent her.

Mr. Swalwell on Sunday apologized to his family, staff and supporters for “mistakes in judgment” but called the allegations of sexual assault “false.”

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it is investigating a sexual assault allegation by a former staffer who said that after getting drunk with Mr. Swalwell, she woke up to him raping her in his New York City hotel room.

“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” she told CNN. “He didn’t stop.”

Ms. Luna said Sunday that she will seek to pair her motion to expel Mr. Swalwell with Mr. Gonzales if the House rules permit it.

Ms. Luna said she is also ready to kick out others.

“And you know what? Bring it. I will be voting to expel members of Congress,” she said.

The Washington Times reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, for a comment on the upcoming frenzy to remove lawmakers.

A cascade of expulsion resolutions could complicate the Republicans’ already tricky agenda this week.

House Republicans are struggling to secure the votes to pass an 18-month extension of a surveillance measure under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which will lapse after an April 20 deadline. The legislation faces a perilous committee vote in which lawmakers will attempt to amend the resolution to increase privacy protections. President Trump said he wants a “clean” extension of the law, without privacy protections that could weaken the surveillance tool.

Neither Mr. Johnson nor other top Republicans have responded publicly to the multiple calls for expulsion votes this week.

It would be a first in modern history if the chamber voted to expel any member without first receiving a recommendation from the Ethics Committee. Typically, when a lawmaker brings up a vote to expel a fellow member, the House votes to defer the matter to the Ethics Committee. Mr. Swalwell is not under an Ethics Committee investigation but is likely to face one in the near future.

The Ethics Committee, a 10-member, bipartisan panel, released a short statement Monday announcing it had launched an investigation of Mr. Swalwell and was “gathering additional information,” regarding the allegations “that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, including towards an employee working under his supervision.”

Mr. Gonzales is under an Ethics Committee investigation, as are Mr. Mills and Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick. The panel has not concluded investigations of Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Mills.

A House Ethics subcommittee last month found Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of dozens of House ethics violations. They said she gamed the system to siphon ill-gotten money into her political campaigns, provided false information on her financial reports and gave special treatment to associates when doling out earmark spending projects.

The panel is scheduled to hold an April 21 hearing on the charges against Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick “to determine what, if any, sanction would be appropriate for the Committee to recommend.”

The House rarely expels members. It last did so in December 2023, when lawmakers voted to oust Rep. George Santos, New York Republican, for misspending campaign money on Botox, adult entertainment sites, designer clothes and other personal expenses. He later pleaded guilty to theft and wire fraud and was sprung from his 87-month prison sentence by Mr. Trump, who commuted his sentence.

Mr. Santos was the first person expelled since 2002, when the House voted to kick out Rep. James Traficant, an Ohio Democrat convicted of bribery, racketeering and tax fraud.