Give House Democrats credit for policing their own. After all other options have evaporated, anyway.
Hakeem Jeffries has run out of runway in dealing with the embezzlement scandal involving Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL). Jeffries had hoped to package her expulsion with a House Republican to keep the GOP majority as narrow as possible, especially with at least one reconciliation package hitting the floor in the coming weeks. Jeffries managed to get Speaker Mike Johnson to engineer a one-for-one resignation with Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales, both accused of sexual misconduct in office, and reportedly wanted Cory Mills' head on a spike in exchange for dispatching Cherfilus-McCormick.
Actually, we'll get back to Mills in a moment. For now, though, Republicans plan to force a vote on Cherfilus-McCormick as soon as the House Ethics Committee formalizes its report on her alleged theft of $5 million from a COVID relief program, and Axios reports that House Dems are ready to award her the Order of the Boot:
Many House Democrats are ready to vote to expel Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) from Congress as soon as the House Ethics Committee meets to decide her fate on Tuesday, Axios has found in interviews with over 30 lawmakers.
Why it matters: Republicans are expected to force an expulsion vote, but they will need roughly 80 Democratic votes to remove Cherfilus-McCormick. ...
What they're saying: "The charges and examination are incredibly, incredibly serious and I think we have to hold ourselves to high standards here in the Congress," Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) told Axios.
- "We need to make sure we can tell the American people that they can trust in their lawmakers," said Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.).
- Reps. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), Julie Johnson (D-Texas), John Larson (D-Conn.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) all told Axios they expect to vote for expulsion if that is what the Ethics Committee recommends.
It takes a two-thirds vote to expel a member from either chamber, so it will take more than just a few crossovers to kick Cherfilus-McCormick out of the House. Only six sitting members of the House have ever been successfully expelled, and most of those came from the Civil War over Confederate loyalties. The most recent two cases came in 1980 and 2002, and both of them came as a result of being convicted of corruption and other charges. Cherfilus-McCormick has yet to be convicted, but it certainly looks as though she defrauded the relief program to fund her first congressional campaign, which her opponent had warned about but no one investigated until much later.
That's why Jeffries and the House Democrat caucus won't have much choice but to kick her out. The embezzlement isn't a separate act unrelated to her work in Congress. It's the reason she won the election in the first place.
Jeffries might still luck out, though, or may have convinced Republicans to push Mills out at roughly the same time, if not exactly in a trade. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has filed a motion to expel Mills for a series of scandals, the most serious of which alleges that Mills threatened an ex-girlfriend with revenge porn after a report of domestic violence between them:
Mace’s resolution, first obtained by Fox News Digital, accuses Mills of misrepresenting his military service, sexual misconduct, campaign finance violations and illicit involvement in federal contracts as a member of Congress, among other charges.
The expulsion push comes after NOTUS reported on Monday that Mills was drafting a similar resolution to remove Mace from the chamber. ...
Mills has faced a bevy of recent scandals, including allegedly threatening an ex-girlfriend with revenge porn after they broke up and a separate assault allegation that law enforcement responded to in Washington, D.C., last year.
He has denied any wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged. Mills is seeking a third House term this November and President Donald Trump has endorsed his re-election campaign.
It's unlikely that either of these resolutions will go as far as the motion to expel Cherfilus-McCormick. The Ethics Committee hasn't weighed in on Mills (or Mace, for that matter), and neither has been indicted for corruption. Cherfilus not only has been indicted, but she's also prepping for trial, although a judge delayed it to next year after a hearing last week. Otherwise, the trial would have taken place this week. That may allow the House to act without any accusation of interfering with her federal trial.
Jeffries will just have to live with a slightly larger gap in the House for the rest of the year. Functionally it won't make that much difference, but it won't make his job easier in the meantime.
The latest episode of The Ed Morrissey Show podcast is now up! Today's show features:
- "Nobody's playing games," Donald Trump declared. Andrew Malcolm and I say: Au contraire.
- We discuss Iran's attempts to stall for time, Trump's next moves, and whether Congress will reward Iran by kneecapping Trump via the War Powers Act.
- Andrew also discusses his latest column on the Eric Swalwell scandal, and how the Protection Racket Media failed America. Again.
The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!
Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians like Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Eric Swalwell, Ruben Gallego, et al.
Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member