Johnson Backs Expelling Miramar Dem Over $5M Theft, Spares New Smyrna Beach GOP Rep in Probe

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that the full House should expel Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Miramar Democrat found guilty of 25 ethics violations tied to the alleged theft of $5 million in state disaster relief funds. He stopped short of calling for the ouster of Rep. Cory Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican facing his own battery of misconduct allegations.

"I have been a jealous guardian of due process around here," Johnson said. "I do think, certainly on Cherfilus-McCormick, the Ethics Committee has gone through all of its processes, and they found some alarming facts. I think the facts are indisputable at this point."

An adjudicatory panel last month found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of charges that she funneled $5 million in state disaster relief through a health care nonprofit to bankroll her 2021 congressional campaign. Federal prosecutors have also indicted her on related charges. The full House Ethics Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing April 21 to recommend sanctions, which could include expulsion from Congress.

The case carries direct weight for Treasure Coast voters. Cherfilus-McCormick represents Florida's 20th Congressional District, which borders the region. Her seat's vacancy — if it comes — would trigger a special election reshaping South Florida's congressional map in ways that could ripple into redistricting conversations already underway in Tallahassee.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Pinellas Republican, posted publicly this week that lawmakers have an expulsion resolution ready. "Either resign or be expelled. Those are your two options," she wrote. Rep. Greg Steube had drafted a removal resolution shortly after the federal indictment but held back at leadership's request to allow the Ethics process to run its course.

Mills faces a House Ethics investigation into allegations that he profited from defense contracts while serving in Congress, domestically abused a girlfriend in Washington, threatened to release intimate photos of a former partner and exaggerated his military service. Johnson acknowledged he did not know the current status of that probe.

"With regard to Mills, I'm not sure the status of the Ethics Committee investigation and that's one of the things I'll be looking into today," the Speaker said.

House Ethics announced in November it would seat an investigative subcommittee to examine the Mills allegations. No hearing date has been set. The Cherfilus-McCormick Ethics hearing is confirmed for April 21.

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