WASHINGTON — Allegations of sexual harassment that violated the request of Rep. California governor Eric Swalwell is now threatening to end his congressional career as lawmakers from both parties say they will support a vote to oust him from the legislature.
Swalwell left a California management school on Sunday night after allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by a former employee and other women ended his campaign and fired those close to him. Swalwell, who denies the allegations, has not said that he intends to resign from his position.
But the allegations, detailed in reports by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN, drew immediate criticism, with lawmakers calling the allegations “abhorrent” and demanding that Congress hold him accountable by removing him from office.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) is leading the charge to impeach Swalwell. In Monday’s interview, Luna said he plans to file a motion early Tuesday on the grounds that he violated House rules by allegedly having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate. The vote could be forced from Wednesday, he said.
Democrats have called on Swalwell to step down, but when it comes to impeachment, they won’t be against Swalwell alone. They also pushed to fire Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas), who pleaded guilty last month to having an affair with an employee who later committed suicide. Luna thinks there is enough support to do both.
“I think we have the votes to fire them both,” Luna said in an interview Monday morning. “If we don’t commit to our teams, that’s not thinking well on our part.”
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, Democrat of New Mexico, said she would support a motion to impeach Swalwell and introduce a motion to impeach Gonzalez.
“Like I said, Gonzalez and Swalwell are unfit to serve in Congress given their sexual assault charges against the women they work for,” Fernandez wrote in X on Sunday. “They should resign or be fired.”
If successful, the expulsion would be the first in congressional history on grounds of sexual misconduct, and among the rare instances in the House’s 237-year history that members have fired their own.
Only six members were expelled from the House. Three of them fought for the Confederacy, two were convicted of bribery and one was fraudster George Santos, whose sentence was revoked by President Trump.
Ethics expert Meredith McGehee said members have been reluctant to fire their colleagues in recent years because of the razor-thin majority in the House, but not doing so harms the institution’s credibility.
“It’s very important right now that the House take action to impeach these men who have been wrongfully accused,” said McGehee, former executive director of the ethics watchdog Issue One. “Letting one of them stay in office and finish his term would be a challenge.”
Swalwell’s scandal could lead to more calls for him to be sacked. Some lawmakers want two more members to be swept from any impeachment vote: Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.), who has been charged with sexual harassment, and Rep. Sheila Cherfilous-McCormick (D-Fla.), who was indicted on charges of embezzling $5 million in federal disaster campaign funds and using it to finance a political campaign.
“Reps. Swalwell, Gonzales, Cherfilus-McCormick, and Mills must resign. If they refuse, they must be fired,” wrote Rep. Nydia Velazquez (DN.Y.) at X on Monday. “The American people deserve better and Congress must hold our members accountable.”
Any impeachment would require a two-thirds majority vote, or 290 out of 435 votes if each member of the House participates.
Whether that threshold can be reached remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee said on Monday it has opened an investigation into allegations of misconduct against Swalwell.
In a statement, the Republican-led committee said it will look into whether Swalwell “violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of his duties or responsibilities, in relation to allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, including with an employee working under his supervision.”
The committee’s statement added that “the mere fact that it is investigating these allegations, and publicly disclosing its review, does not indicate that any violation of the law has occurred.”
