Rep. Eric Swalwell sits at his desk in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. after the House Intelligence Committee’s public hearing regarding the relationship between President Donald Trump and Ukraine on Nov. 21, 2019.
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For the S.F. Chronicle
Rep. Eric Swalwell takes questions from the press outside of the U.S. Capitol on his way to a vote in 2019.
Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For the S.F. Chronicle
UPDATE: Eric Swalwell resigns from Congress
WASHINGTON — After Rep. Eric Swalwell ended his campaign for California governor on Sunday, the most pressing question now is whether the Castro Valley Democrat will be allowed to finish his final term in Congress.
Calls for Swalwell to resign from the East Bay House seat he has represented for seven terms have multiplied since Friday, when the Chronicle reported that a former staffer said Swalwell twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent. A growing number of his colleagues from across the political spectrum now say that, if he does not, they will move to expel Swalwell immediately.
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Whether they can muster the two-thirds vote required to kick him out of Congress remains to be seen. The issue will be on the front burner as the House returns Tuesday from a two-week recess. The House Ethics Committee announced Monday that it would investigate the allegations against Swalwell.
House leaders, who could marshal their caucuses to support or oppose an expulsion vote, have yet to weigh in. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., issued a joint statement with Democratic leadership on Friday calling for a “swift investigation into these incidents,” but did not address potential consequences. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has not publicly commented on the accusations against Swalwell. Their spokespeople did not respond to questions on Monday.
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Swalwell has not given any indication he plans to resign. In a short statement explaining his departure from the gubernatorial race on Sunday, he apologized for the “mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past” but added that he would “fight the serious, false allegations that have been made.”
A former staff member told the Chronicle that Swalwell began pursuing her shortly after she joined his district office at age 21, sending her explicit messages and photos on Snapchat and pressuring her for sex. She said Swalwell sexually assaulted her in September 2019, when he was still her boss, and again in April 2024, when they met up after a charity gala in New York City.
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In both instances, she said, she blacked out from drinking and only remembered snippets of the incidents, including pushing Swalwell away and telling him to stop during the 2024 incident. CNN later reported three other women had leveled allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
“That’s my fight, not a campaign’s,” Swalwell said.
Neither Swalwell nor his lawyer responded to questions Monday about the ethics probe and the effort to expel him.
He is rapidly losing support, however, even among his own staff, which could make his continued service in public office untenable.
More than a dozen senior staffers from his congressional and campaign offices on Saturday released an unsigned statement saying they “stand with our former colleague and the other women who have come forward” and noting that those who remained in their roles, in some cases because of financial considerations, should not be interpreted as supporting him. Then on Sunday, 55 former staffers signed a letter urging Swalwell to resign.
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Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is planning to introduce a resolution this week to expel Swalwell from the House. More Democrats are growing comfortable with the idea because such a move could be tied to expelling Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican who recently acknowledged having an affair with a staffer and also reportedly sent explicit messages to a campaign aide.
That would not change the balance of power in the closely divided House. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico, chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, said Sunday that she would introduce the resolution to expel Gonzales.
“I’ve seen enough,” Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, wrote Saturday on social media. “With his nuanced statement aimed at defending likely criminal charges, Swalwell all but admits a per se abuse of power under House ethics rules: sex with a subordinate,” he said, adding that he would support expelling both Swalwell and Gonzales if they do not resign.
Members ranging from conservative Republican Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Mike Lawler of New York to progressive Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington expressed support for the idea throughout the weekend.
“We have to hold everybody accountable,” Jayapal told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “This is also important for staffers across the Capitol to see that their bosses don’t get to do this to them.”
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A two-thirds vote is nevertheless a high hurdle to clear. Only six members have ever been expelled from the House, including three in 1861 for fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The most recent was former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., in 2023, who was indicted on 23 federal charges related to money laundering and theft of public funds.
The ethics investigation could serve as an off-ramp for House members who don’t feel comfortable moving so quickly to oust their colleagues. The House code of official conduct prohibits members from engaging in a sexual relationship with or making unwanted sexual advances toward staff under their supervision, meaning Swalwell may have violated the rules even if he did not, as he contends, sexually assault his former staffer.
“The Committee notes that the mere fact that it is investigating these allegations, and publicly disclosing its review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred,” Reps. Michael Guest, R-Miss., and Mark DeSaulnier, D-Antioch, the chair and ranking member of the ethics committee, said in a joint statement.
Gonzales is also currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and has retained his seat as the inquiry continues.