Ethics Panel Convicts South Florida Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick on 25 Counts

The House Ethics Committee found Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) guilty of 25 of 27 ethics counts Thursday after a rare public hearing, citing clear and convincing evidence of financial misconduct including improper receipt of funds and commingling of personal and campaign money.

The bipartisan committee — equal parts Republicans and Democrats — concluded a two-year investigation that produced a public proceeding her own attorney had sought to block. Cherfilus-McCormick did not speak during the hearing and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The South Florida Democrat, whose district borders the Treasure Coast, now faces a committee sentencing recommendation in April that the full House will vote on. Penalties could range from censure to removal from committees to expulsion, which requires a two-thirds House vote. Republicans and at least one Democrat have called for her expulsion.

The ethics findings arrive less than a month after the Justice Department's fall 2025 indictment charging Cherfilus-McCormick with stealing millions in federal relief funds — specifically an alleged overpayment from FEMA distributed to her family's company — and then funneling that money to support her 2021 congressional campaign. Her attorney, William Barzee, argued she was entitled to the transferred funds under a profit-sharing agreement. Committee member Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas) noted the document Barzee presented was unsigned.

"If, in fact, your client was entitled to that under a profit-sharing agreement, I would think Day 1, I would say, hey, give me the signed profit-sharing agreement, let me turn it over," Moran said during the hearing. "And your client, in two years, has not done that."

Barzee had also asked the committee to delay the public hearing until her criminal trial concludes, warning that pretrial publicity could compromise the jury pool. "If they hear that she's already been found guilty, how can she have a fair trial?" he said. The committee denied the request.

Subcommittee investigations director Brittney Pescatore said the congresswoman chose not to engage with the two-year probe despite repeated opportunities to do so.

What This Means for the Treasure Coast: Cherfilus-McCormick does not represent Martin, St. Lucie, or Indian River counties directly, but the FEMA funds at the center of the federal indictment were distributed through federal disaster relief channels According to available information,. Any April House expulsion vote would trigger a special election in her South Florida district, a proceeding that could reshape Florida's congressional delegation and affect the partisan math in committee seats that oversee Everglades and Indian River Lagoon funding priorities. The full House will vote on punishment in April 2026.

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