House to investigate Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick over possible campaign finance violations

The House Ethics committee announced on Wednesday that it will investigate whether U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-West Palm Beach, has violated campaign finance laws and other potential violations.

According to a statement, an investigative subcommittee will probe whether “she may have violated campaign finance laws and regulations in connection with her 2022 special election and/or 2022 re-election campaigns; failed to properly disclose required information on statements required to be filed with the House; and/or accepted voluntary services for official work from an individual not employed in her congressional office.”

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Cherfilus-McCormick was elected in January 2022 to fill the seat vacated by the late U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Delray Beach.

The Ethics Committee voted unanimously to investigate the allegations after getting a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent agency that investigates misconduct complaints.

U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican, is set to lead the subcommittee. The possible violations were referred by the Office of Congressional Ethics. The statement offered no further details.

“As the Ethics Committee said in its statement, the mere fact of establishing an investigative subcommittee does not itself indicate that any violation occurred,” said the congresswoman's spokesperson, Jonathan Levin. “Regardless, the Congresswoman takes these matters seriously and is working to resolve them.”

Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick vowed no direct sugar money

Cherfilus-McCormick, a home health-care business owner, won a hotly contested Democratic primary race in November 2021. It was during that race that questions first surfaced about her campaign finances and filings. Still, she defeated Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness by just five votes out of a total of 23,319 ballots cast in the special election for District 20.

She then handily beat Republican Jason Mariner in the solidly Democratic district in January 2022. Cherfilus-McCormick retained the seat 10 months later in that year's midterm elections.

In seeking the seat, Cherfilus-McCormick signed a pledge vowing to not accept direct campaign contributions from the sugar industry in contrast to her predecessor, Hastings, whose campaigns were consistently well-supported by sugar industry donations.

Safety improvements for Brightline, outspoken on immigration

On Capitol Hill, she has worked on a series of measures in her nearly two years in Congress.

In August 2022, she joined fellow South Florida congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, and U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz Balart, R-Miami, in announcing a $25 million grant for safety improvements on Brightline's tracks.

This past January, she spoke out after the Biden administration revealed a southern border plan to allow 30,000 immigrants a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the country and work legally for two years.

Cherfilus-McCormick, a Haitian-American, urged her colleagues on Capitol Hill to pursue more action.She said each of the countries listed in the Biden administration plan needed their own specific provision because the nature of political instability differed in each. She also worried many families would struggle in finding a sponsor if they do not have loved ones or other close connections in the United States, as the rule required.

While saying the administration's plan was a "good first step," she called for further modifications.

"We're trying to make sure that it's equitable for everyone who's seeking asylum, and it's equitable for everyone to have access to it," Cherfilus-McCormick said at the time. "And that's where we're trying to make sure that we can get it right."

A month later, she joined two other Democrats, U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff of California and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, in filing legislation to prohibit schools that receive federal funding from collecting or requiring information regarding students' menstrual cycles.

More: Palm Beach County OKs athlete registration forms without menstrual history questions

The PERIOD Act followed a decision by Florida athletic leaders to remove questions about athletes' menstrual history from annual registration forms. An investigation by The Palm Beach Post found that 35 states, then including Florida, ask athletes about their periods and require them to turn in the answers to their school districts during the annual registration process.

Cherfilus-McCormick has been a generally reliable Democratic vote in the U.S. House, and joined each of her colleagues in the historic vote ousting Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October.

A month later, however, she broke ranks with some of her South Florida Democratic colleagues by not supporting the censure of Michigan U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib — Congress' only Palestinian American — for her comments about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Cherfilus-McCormick said at the time that she rejected the "from the river to the sea" slogan but was concerned that "the weaponization of these censures is nothing but a political game that does not solve our nation's problems."

Rick Christie, Executive Editor of The Palm Beach Post, contributed to this report.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: House to probe Cherfilus-McCormick over possible campaign finance violations