Representative Jim Himes said on Sunday that his Democratic colleague Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick should resign now that a congressional subcommittee has concluded she violated House ethics rules.
Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," Himes said he hopes Cherfilus-McCormick will step down to avoid a formal House vote. "If she doesn’t resign, there will be a vote in the House. ... I would hope that my colleague might avoid that outcome by choosing to resign," he said.
The call for resignation follows a statement from Representative Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican who chairs the House Ethics Committee, that a subcommittee determined 25 counts of alleged violations by Cherfilus-McCormick were proven "by clear and convincing evidence."
In November, a federal grand jury indicted Cherfilus-McCormick on charges related to the alleged theft of pandemic relief funds and the direction of those funds toward her 2021 congressional campaign. She has previously denied any wrongdoing. Cherfilus-McCormick’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on Himes' appeal.
The Justice Department's allegations in the November indictment state that Cherfilus-McCormick and others conspired to appropriate an overpayment of roughly $5 million that had been received by her family-owned healthcare company. Prosecutors say that money was routed through multiple accounts to conceal its origin. According to the indictment, the company held a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract funded by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Republicans and some Democrats, including Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, have publicly urged Cherfilus-McCormick to step down. The full House Ethics Committee is scheduled to decide what sanctions to recommend after the House returns from its April recess, Guest said.
Himes also stressed the need for consistent application of ethics standards across party lines, citing the case of former Representative George Santos. He referenced Santos' expulsion from Congress and subsequent jailing on charges of fraud and identity theft before President Donald Trump ordered his release last year. "It is also very important that both parties be consistent in punishing ethical lapses inside their own teams," Himes said.
The situation leaves both political and legal processes pending. The Ethics Committee's recommendation and any potential House action would come after the congressional recess; the legal case continues to move through the federal system in parallel.
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