Reps. Eric Swalwell of California and Tony Gonzales of Texas resigned from Congress on Monday within hours of each other, both facing imminent expulsion votes after a bipartisan group of congresswomen threatened to force the issue. The two men — a Democrat and a Republican — were each accused of sexual misconduct toward staff members, violations of House conduct rules that bar members from sexual relationships with their employees.
The paired resignations mark the most striking congressional accountability moment on sexual misconduct since the heights of the #MeToo movement, yet many congresswomen said the departures came too slowly and revealed persistent structural failures in a workplace where 535 lawmakers independently oversee their own hand-selected staff with minimal oversight.
“Today was an important turning point,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. “That it should — that abuse of power — should never be accepted, and above all, in public office. And so, I think this is an important resetting point for the institution.”
The resignations
Both men announced their departures the day before the House returned to Washington, where each faced the prospect of being expelled by colleagues. A bipartisan group of congresswomen had threatened Tuesday to file resolutions that could have forced votes on removing them.
The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reported Friday that a woman said Swalwell sexually assaulted her. The initial allegations against Swalwell dated to 2019 and 2024; they were followed by additional allegations of inappropriate behavior from other women. Swalwell denied engaging in any sexual misconduct but acknowledged mistakes in judgment.
Gonzales had resisted calls for his resignation for months after he admitted to a 2024 affair with a staff member who later died by suicide. House rules bar members from having sexual relationships with their staff.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not speak with either lawmaker before their announcements. “This is the right thing for the institution,” Johnson told reporters.
Calls for a broader reckoning
The resignations drew praise but also demands for deeper systemic change from lawmakers who said the institution has long permitted abuse to continue.
“Accountability can happen. We can hold men accountable when they abuse women, and we’re going to do more of it,” said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who chairs the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
Former Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat who led earlier congressional reform efforts and who first entered politics as a congressional aide — where she herself experienced harassment from a supervisor — said underlying problems remain entrenched. “What we do in Congress is basically look the other way,” Speier told the Associated Press. She called on Johnson and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries to tighten rules and create safer conditions for staff to report abuse.
Because each of the 535 lawmakers runs an independent office with hand-selected staff, day-to-day oversight is minimal, Speier said. “There’s really no one overseeing you. There’s a sense of entitlement that kind of overtakes many of these members.”
Reforms and their limits
Following the #MeToo movement, the House required annual sexual harassment and discrimination trainings for members, sped up the complaint process, expanded settlement disclosures, and required members to personally pay any penalties. Since those 2018 reforms took effect, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights has recorded eight payments by House members’ offices totaling just over $400,000. Those payments cover all types of workplace rights violations — not exclusively sexual harassment — and the violations could have been committed by other congressional staff within those offices.
“Unless someone comes forward, you know the conduct continues,” Speier said.
Other pending cases
Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Anna Paulina Luna of Florida had repeatedly called for both Swalwell and Gonzales to resign. Mace, who shared her own account of surviving rape in 2019, has extended that demand to Rep. Cory Mills, a Republican who faces an ethics investigation on allegations of sexual misconduct and violence against an ex-girlfriend. Mills has said he will disprove the allegations.
Mace and Luna are also calling for the resignation of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Florida Democrat. The House Ethics Committee found evidence that Cherfilus-McCormick broke campaign finance law related to a mistaken $5 million overpayment from Florida to her family’s health care business. Cherfilus-McCormick has said she did nothing wrong.
Mace herself is under investigation by the ethics panel for allegations she improperly claimed housing reimbursements; she has denied wrongdoing. “Clean house. Expel them. Hold every last one accountable,” Mace said on social media.
An ally’s reckoning
Among Democrats, the resignations prompted reflection about the close associations some had maintained with Swalwell. Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, who chaired Swalwell’s presidential campaign and described him as a close family friend, called reporters to his office Tuesday for an emotional press conference.
“I messed up. I’m human. I trusted this man,” a tearful Gallego said. He acknowledged having heard rumors that Swalwell was “flirty” but said he had trusted him. “I definitely look at the world in a different way now,” Gallego said. “I personally am going to make sure that I’m going to take personal steps and office steps to make sure that we don’t even get close to a gray line.”