The U.S. House Committee on Ethics announced Tuesday it postponed a public trial for Democratic South Florida Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who faces allegations of campaign finance violations, code of ethics violations, and violating House rules.
The trial was slated to begin Thursday but has been pushed to March 26.
, the U.S. House Committee on Ethics reported that Cherfilus-McCormick鈥檚 lawyer 鈥渨ithdrew from representing her before the adjudicatory subcommittee, and Representative Cherfilus-McCormick asked for a brief continuance to allow her to retain new counsel.鈥�
Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Miramar, whose district includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, has been under investigation by the Committee since May 2024. She was indicted last November by a Miami federal grand jury on similar charges.
Earlier this year, the ethics committee filed its , in which it found 鈥渟ubstantial evidence of conduct consistent with the allegations in the indictment, as well as more extensive misconduct.鈥�
READ MORE: Stolen money, straw donors and a diamond ring: The charges against Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
In a January , Cherfilus-McCormick鈥檚 then attorney asked for the committee鈥檚 investigation to be halted until the DOJ鈥檚 case was completed, so that Cherfilus-McCormick could 鈥渇ully participate in the Committee鈥檚 proceedings.鈥� The response also asked for the investigation to be dismissed.
Cherfilus-McCormick鈥檚 arraignment in the federal trial was delayed twice due to her inability to finalize a legal team. She pleaded not guilty in February.
Federal prosecutors in the criminal case allege that Cherfilus-McCormick and several co-defendants stole federal disaster funds, laundered the proceeds, and used the cash to support her 2021 congressional election campaign.
Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and her brother Edwin Cherfilus, 51, worked through their family health-care company on a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract in 2021, according to the indictment. In July 2021, the company then received an overpayment of $5 million in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to steal the $5 million and rout it through 鈥渕ultiple accounts to disguise its source.鈥�
In declaring she's innocent of any alleged wrongdoing, Cherfilus-McCormick called it an "unjust, baseless, sham indictment."
She was first elected to Congress in 2022 in the 20th District representing parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties in a special election after Rep. Alcee Hastings died in 2021.
won a subsequent primary in the heavily Democratic district by five votes. She was reelected without opposition in November 2024.
In Congress, she has been a vocal advocate for Haitian-Americans as co-chair of the Haiti Caucus and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
