The sexual assault and misconduct allegations against Representative Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, that have upended his gubernatorial campaign and prompted a criminal investigation have also supercharged a push in Congress to expel a group of lawmakers in both parties facing serious accusations of wrongdoing.
The House could move within days on a motion by Representative Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, to expel Mr. Swalwell. That could touch off a chain reaction of similar moves to purge accused offenders in both parties in a series of votes that, if successful, would not change the balance of power.
Mr. Swalwell brings to four the number of House members — two Democrats and two Republicans — who face possible expulsion in the coming weeks, a potentially major uptick in a very rare practice that could dominate action on the House floor at a time when the country is embroiled in a military conflict with Iran and a partial government shutdown.
Members of Congress are typically reluctant to force out their colleagues because it invalidates the will of voters. In the 237-year history of the U.S. House of Representatives, only six lawmakers have been expelled by a vote of their peers. Three of them were slave-owning supporters of the Confederacy, two were convicted felons, and one was the serial fabulist George Santos.
A vote to expel requires a two-thirds majority, which is not an easy lift. But Stanley M. Brand, a former House general counsel, said that lawmakers were living in a moment when there is “panic on both sides of the aisle of people letting this stuff go by. It looks like corruption is afoot if they don’t do something, and they fear they will be judged.”
George Conway, the constitutional lawyer and Trump critic running for Congress in Manhattan, said on social media that the right move was to “stick ‘em all in one resolution,” with one up-or-down vote.
“Let’s see who actually believes in standards of decency,” he added, rather than scoring “partisan political points.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Saturday said it was opening an investigation into Mr. Swalwell, who has denied the accusations and vowed to continue to fight them even as the political support for his gubernatorial run has cratered. So far, many Democrats have called for Mr. Swalwell to end his campaign, but stopped short of calling for him to be removed from office.
Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Democrat of Florida, was already facing potential expulsion. She has been indicted and stands accused of embezzling $5 million of federal disaster money and using it for her campaign, in a case that could carry a prison term of up to 53 years. The House Ethics Committee last month held a rare public trial and is set to make a recommendation soon on potentially removing her from office. (Her attorney has said she is “absolutely innocent.”)
Also facing calls for his removal is Representative Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas, who admitted in March to a sexual relationship with a staff member who later took her own life. While the Ethics Committee was still conducting an investigation, a second former staff member came forward and accused him of pressuring her into a sexual relationship. Mr. Gonzales has not commented on the second allegation, but is facing calls from members of both parties to leave Congress.
Another lawmaker who could face potential expulsion is Representative Cory Mills, Republican of Florida, who was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. last year in connection with a report of an assault on a woman. His former girlfriend was issued a protective order against him after accusing him of threatening her with revenge porn after she broke up with him. He has also been under investigation by the ethics panel and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Speaker Mike Johnson and Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and minority leader, have assumed the same stance regarding the members of their party who are credibly accused of sexual misconduct or rape: they have called on the alleged offenders to end their re-election campaigns but stopped short of calling for their resignations.
Still, under House rules, any lawmaker can initiate a move to expel a member, which must be acted upon within two days. With Ms. Luna planning to target Mr. Swalwell, Democrats are ready to move ahead with a motion to expel Mr. Gonzales, according to two people familiar with their thinking who described it on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to detail plans that are still in flux. Democrats expect the motion to receive bipartisan support, the people said.
“I don’t care what the party affiliation is, if they are corrupt and engaging in illegal activity in Congress I’m going to vote to expel them,” Ms. Luna, who has also called for Mr. Gonzales to be expelled, wrote on social media. “It is time Congress had a good house cleaning.”
Mr. Johnson, who is dangerously close to losing his slim majority, cannot afford the exit of another Republican. But the fact that there are two Democrats and two Republicans facing expulsion could make it easier politically for him to move forward.
Even before the allegations against Mr. Swalwell were reported by CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle, there had been some informal discussion of pairing a vote to expel Mr. Gonzales with one on removing Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick.
If a member is expelled from Congress by a vote of their peers, they can still run for re-election. If they win, they could not be expelled again in the next Congress for the same reason. Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick and Mr. Mills are both running for re-election. Mr. Gonzales ended his re-election campaign because of the allegations against him. Mr. Swalwell was not seeking re-election to the House because he was instead running for governor.
Annie Karni is a congressional correspondent for The Times.
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