How is Congress handling Swalwell and expulsion threats?

Lawmakers weigh resignations and possible expulsion votes

Eric Swalwell’s exit from Congress intensified a broader debate over whether other lawmakers—on both sides of the aisle—should face expulsion actions amid sexual misconduct allegations and related investigations.

What happened

• Multiple House and Senate figures publicly called for Swalwell to resign or be expelled following allegations of sexual misconduct.
• The House Ethics Committee announced it would open an investigation into allegations against Swalwell.
• News coverage in the provided stories indicates that expulsion votes were discussed as part of Congress’s return and agenda planning, including attention to other members facing misconduct claims.

How it connects to other lawmakers

The controversy also encompassed Tony Gonzales, another member facing expulsion threats and related misconduct allegations, and separate coverage describes Gonzales ultimately resigning following renewed pressure.

This matters politically because expulsion is rare and requires significant procedural thresholds in the House, so the willingness of members to push for it signals how far the controversy has expanded beyond individual ethics processes and into floor-level enforcement.

Why it matters now

The key impact is that expulsion threats and resignation decisions are becoming intertwined with congressional timetable decisions—when votes happen, which committees act first, and how quickly allegations turn into formal consequences.

It’s still unclear from the summaries alone which members will ultimately receive expulsion votes and what the House leadership’s final approach will be. But the stories show that the Ethics Committee’s investigation and the rising call to remove members are now central issues as Congress returns to Washington.