Rep. Greg Steube did not waste a second jumping into the center of the latest Florida political storm, and honestly, who can blame him. When federal prosecutors drop an indictment accusing a sitting member of Congress of siphoning millions from FEMA, the reaction is not exactly going to be gentle. Steube went straight to the point on X, saying he will file a privileged motion to censure Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and yank her from all committees. According to him, this is “one of the most egregious abuses of public trust I have ever seen” and he is not being dramatic. If you live in a state hammered by hurricanes every couple of years, hearing that someone may have swiped $5 million that was supposed to help disaster victims hits a nerve.
BREAKING: DOJ charges Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) with stealing $5 million in FEMA funds, laundering the proceeds, and then using the money to support her 2021 Congressional campaign. She faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted.
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Steube is also making it clear he is not stopping at censure. He plans to move for expulsion once House Ethics finishes digging or if a conviction comes down first. He spelled it out plainly, saying he will move to expel her from Congress when the time comes. It is a rare moment in Washington when someone is actually direct, and Steube seems to be enjoying that role.
Cherfilus-McCormick fired back with a statement of her own, calling the indictment “unjust, baseless, sham” and insisting she is innocent. She suggested the timing was political and said she has cooperated with everything investigators asked of her. She also made sure to remind everyone she is grateful for her district and confident the truth will come out. Politicians facing federal charges tend to sound confident, at least publicly, so that part is not surprising.
The Justice Department, though, is painting a picture that is not exactly flattering. Prosecutors say Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother ran a family health care company handling a FEMA funded COVID vaccination staffing contract that accidentally got an extra $5 million. Instead of returning it, DOJ says they allegedly ran it through multiple accounts, with some of the money ending up in her 2021 campaign and the rest going toward personal spending. The indictment adds even more, accusing her and Nadege Leblanc of lining up straw donations and spreading FEMA money around to friends and relatives who pretended they were making legitimate contributions. On top of that, prosecutors say she teamed up with tax preparer David K. Spencer to file a bogus tax return that wrote off political and personal spending as business costs while inflating charitable contributions.
Florida’s former attorney general Pam Bondi called the alleged behavior selfish and cynical, which is putting it politely. FBI Director Kash Patel said no one is above the law, a line that lands a little harder when the accusation involves disaster funds that people actually needed after losing everything in a hurricane.
If the charges stick, the prison time on the table is no joke. Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years, her brother up to 35, Leblanc up to 10, and Spencer up to 33. For now, the legal system will take its course, but Steube has already made it clear he is not giving her any political breathing room.
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