U.S. Rep. Greg Steube won’t try to expel U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick before the House Ethics Committee issues a recommendation.
The Sarasota Republican last year said he wanted to force a vote on the Miramar Democrat’s removal from Congress following an indictment on charges she stole $5 million in COVID funds to finance her 2021 congressional campaign. But Steube said it became clear he could not reach the supermajority required to expel a member.
“I am told that Democrats will not support my motion to expel Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick before the Ethics Committee conducts its trial on March 5, leaving it short of the required two-thirds threshold,” Steube posted on X.
The House Ethics Committee last week issued its own report detailing 27 counts against Cherfilus-McCormick. That report details evidence that Trinity Health Care Services, a public health company founded by Cherfilus-McCormick, collected nearly $5.8 million in overpayments from the state of Florida and funneled millions into her 2022 congressional campaign.
The day of the report’s release, House Ethics announced the formation of an adjudicating committee headed by the House Ethics Committee’s top Republican, U.S. Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, and Democrat, U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of California.
Cherfilus-McCormick for her part has characterized the House Ethics Committee’s acceleration of the investigation as unfair.
“Today’s action was taken without giving me a fair opportunity to rebut or defend myself due to the constraints of an ongoing legal process,” she said. “I reject these allegations and remain confident the full facts will make clear I did nothing wrong. Until then, my focus remains where it belongs: delivering for my constituents and continuing the work they sent me to Washington to do.”
But the report came more than two years after initial complaints were filed, and two months after the Justice Department obtained a criminal indictment from a grand jury.
“This process has been needlessly slow, but it will not change the outcome,” Steube posted. “If Democrats want to slow walk this to protect their own, Americans can judge that for themselves. Once the Ethics Committee formally recommends expulsion, we will take up the motion and remove her from Congress once and for all.”
