Two congressmen. Two parties. Two resignations in the space of an hour.

On Monday evening, Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, announced he would leave Congress. Minutes later, Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, said he would “file my retirement from office” when the House reconvened Tuesday. Both faced expulsion votes with bipartisan support — a rarity in a chamber that has expelled only six members in its history.

The double departure raises an uncomfortable question: is this accountability, or political calculation?

A Five-Day Fall

Swalwell’s collapse was staggering in its speed. A seven-term congressman and frontrunner in California’s gubernatorial race, he saw his career unravel in less than a week. Rumors began circulating online last week. By Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN had published accounts from at least four women alleging misconduct ranging from unwanted advances to rape. By Sunday, he had suspended his campaign. By Monday, he was gone.

“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell said in a statement. He denied the most serious allegations but said he had to “take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”

More than 50 former staffers called for his resignation. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew their support. Senator Adam Schiff told reporters the situation was “shocking and deeply upsetting.” The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation Monday into whether Swalwell engaged in sexual misconduct toward a subordinate — a probe his resignation effectively ended almost as soon as it began.

Swalwell acknowledged the tension himself. “Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong,” he wrote. “But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties.”

The Gonzales Parallel

Gonzales’s path was slower but ended at the same destination. The Texas Republican admitted in March to an affair with a congressional staffer who later died by suicide. He abandoned his reelection bid under pressure from GOP leaders but resisted calls to resign — until last week, when the San Antonio Express-News published texts in which he allegedly asked a campaign staffer for nude photos and described wanting to have sex with her.

“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all,” Gonzales wrote on social media Monday.

The Symmetric Exit

Behind the scenes, a plan had taken shape that explains the synchronized timing. According to CNN, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), who chairs the Democratic Women’s Caucus, each drafted expulsion resolutions — one targeting Swalwell, the other Gonzales. The symmetry was deliberate. Each party would lose one member. Speaker Mike Johnson’s fragile majority would remain unchanged.

Luna told The Hill she believed “the votes are there for both.” A third member, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), faces a separate expulsion push over federal fraud charges she has denied.

Precedent or Moment?

Compare this with earlier congressional scandals. During the #MeToo era, Senator Al Franken and Representatives John Conyers, Blake Farenthold, and Trent Franks faced misconduct allegations. Those processes took weeks or months. Ethics investigations ran their course.

This time, the expulsion threat was immediate and bipartisan. The Ethics Committee probe into Swalwell was announced and effectively closed the same day.

Several factors explain the velocity. Swalwell was running for governor in a state with an open primary, where the top two vote-getters advance regardless of party. A damaged Democrat could split the vote enough to let two Republicans through to the general election — a catastrophic outcome in the nation’s most populous state. California officials confirmed Monday it was too late to remove his name from ballots.

For Republicans, the Gonzales situation had simmered for months. What changed was the Swalwell allegations creating conditions for a paired exit that preserved the chamber’s balance of power.

Whether this represents a durable shift in congressional tolerance for misconduct remains unclear. The incentives — protecting a gubernatorial race, maintaining a House majority — were particular to this moment. Luna has pushed for a broader reckoning. But Johnson has argued that expulsion should follow a complete Ethics Committee investigation. The tension between due process and political pressure remains unresolved. Monday’s resignations illustrated it more than they settled it.

Both vacancies will trigger special elections. California Governor Gavin Newsom has 14 days to call one for Swalwell’s Bay Area district, which Harris carried by 35 points in 2024. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott sets the timing for Gonzales’s seat, where Democrats see an opening despite the district’s recent Republican lean.

Sources