Bipartisan duo that pushed Swalwell, Gonzales to resign says other lawmakers may be next
A cross-party effort caused two House members to resign on Tuesday, and the female lawmakers who helped lead that push told CBS News that additional members of Congress could face similar pressure.
In an interview with CBS News, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández — a Republican and a Democrat, respectively — described how they coordinated to push Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell and GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales to step down this week rather than face votes to remove them from office over allegations of misconduct.
Multiple women in recent days have accused Swalwell of sexual assault or sending unsolicited explicit messages, which he has denied, and Gonzales has faced scrutiny over an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide. Swalwell also dropped out of the California gubernatorial race over the weekend, while Gonzales dropped his bid for reelection last month.
Luna and Leger Fernández said they worked in tandem to introduce separate expulsion efforts, building support across party lines and increasing pressure on both men to leave. Luna said there was already enough backing in the chamber to remove them if votes had taken place, telling CBS News that "we had two-thirds support for both people to be gone."
Leger Fernández said the dual resignations on Tuesday were the result of members stepping in when House leadership did not immediately act.
"If it wouldn't have been for those resolutions that we were each filing, they wouldn't have resigned," she said, adding that the situation only came to light because women involved "were willing to break the silence."