Mike Johnson says it’s time to expel Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, but he’s unsure on Cory Mills

House Speaker Mike Johnson says the House should expel U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, but declined to say the same about U.S. Rep. Cory Mills.

As a bipartisan group of lawmakers looks to push out multiple members with ethical violations, the Republican Speaker said the process has played out enough to know that Cherfilus-McCormick, a Miramar Democrat, must go.

“I have been a jealous guardian of due process around here,” Johnson said. “I do think, certainly on Cherfilus-McCormick, the Ethics Committee has gone through all of its processes, and they found some alarming facts. I think the facts are indisputable at this point.”

An adjudicatory panel last month found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of 25 charges she violated House rules, most concerned with the siphoning of $5 million in state disaster relief through a health care nonprofit to fund her 2021 congressional campaign.

“I believe it’ll be the consensus of the body that she should be expelled,” he said.

The full House Ethics Committee will hold a hearing on April 21 to recommend sanctions, which could include expulsion. Several lawmakers, including colleagues from Florida, say they have a resolution ready to vote on ejecting the lawmaker from her seat.

“Sheila McCormick, we have your expulsion vote ready to be called up on the 21st,” posted U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Pinellas Republican. “Either resign or be expelled. Those are your two options. So America is tracking: Sheila stole $5 million in FEMA funds.”

U.S. Rep. Greg Steube prepared a resolution to remove Cherfilus-McCormick shortly after she was indicted by federal prosecutors on charges also related to the alleged theft. But at the urging of leadership, he said he would not rush the resolution ahead of the Ethics process.

This week, Luna and other lawmakers suggested pairing resolutions on ejecting members with serious ethics challenges, evading leadership concerns about a tight margin between Republicans and Democrats in the House. On Monday, both Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California and Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas announced their resignations amid sexual misconduct allegations.

Many asserted that a similar joint exit may come for Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills, who has suffered a series of personal scandals this year. House Ethics is investigating the New Smyrna Beach Republican over allegations that he profited from defense contracts while in Congress, domestically abused a girlfriend in Washington, threatened to release intimate photos of a girlfriend in Florida, and exaggerated his military service.

But those matters remain under House investigation.

“With regard to Mills, I’m not sure the status of the Ethics Committee investigation and that’s one of the things I’ll be looking into today,” Johnson said.

House Ethics in November announced it would name an investigative subcommittee to look at the series of allegations for the Florida Republican.