Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is not waiting for Eric Swalwell to do the right thing. The Florida Republican announced she will file a privileged motion to force a House floor vote on expelling the California Democrat from Congress, following allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staffer on two separate occasions.
"I am filing a motion to expel Eric Swalwell from Congress," Luna declared, adding that she plans to bring the vote as early as next week. Because an expulsion motion carries privileged status under House rules, Luna can bypass committee deliberation and compel every member to cast an up-or-down vote on Swalwell's future in the chamber.
The motion follows accusations from a former Swalwell staffer who has said the congressman sexually assaulted her on two occasions while she was intoxicated. Swalwell has denied the claims. He described the accusations as "absolutely false" and, in separate remarks reported by Newsmax, called them "flat false."
Luna has made clear she views denial as insufficient. "He should not be allowed to stay in Congress," she said. In a post on X, she wrote: "I am not going to act like it is fine. This is NOT okay."
Beyond the expulsion motion, Luna publicly called on Swalwell to resign. "I am calling on @RepSwalwell to resign from office," she posted, framing the matter as one where voluntary departure would be preferable to the spectacle of a floor vote.
The political fallout is not confined to the Republican side of the aisle. The New York Post reported that Democratic leaders have called the accusations against Swalwell "disturbing" and urged him to end his California gubernatorial campaign. That language stops short of demanding his resignation from Congress, but it signals growing discomfort within his own party.
Some Democratic figures have urged Swalwell to exit the governor's race, though no broad Democratic call for him to leave the House has materialized. The gap between those two positions may narrow quickly if Luna's privileged motion forces every member to go on the record.
Swalwell currently represents California's 14th Congressional District and launched his bid for governor while still serving in the House. The assault allegations have thrown that campaign into turmoil and raised questions about whether he can survive politically in either arena.
Expulsion is the most severe punishment Congress can impose on one of its own members. Under Article I of the Constitution, the House may expel a member with a two-thirds supermajority vote. That is a high bar. In modern history, successful expulsions have been exceedingly rare.
The most recent case came in 2023, when the House voted to remove former Rep. George Santos of New York after a damaging ethics investigation. That vote crossed party lines and followed months of mounting evidence and public pressure. The Washington Times noted the Santos precedent in its coverage of Luna's new push, underscoring how rare the mechanism remains.
Whether Luna can assemble a two-thirds coalition against Swalwell is an open question. Republicans hold the House majority, but they would need significant Democratic support to clear the threshold. The allegations against Swalwell have not resulted in criminal charges, and investigators have not publicly confirmed whether any law enforcement inquiry is underway. Those facts could give reluctant members cover to vote against expulsion, even if they find the allegations troubling.
Swalwell is not Luna's only target. She also announced plans to seek the expulsion of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida after the House Ethics Committee found the congresswoman guilty on 25 of 27 counts tied to dozens of ethics violations involving campaign finance activity.
The twin motions position Luna as the House's most aggressive advocate for internal discipline this session. By pursuing two members from the opposing party on unrelated grounds, she is framing the effort as a matter of institutional standards rather than partisan overreach.
The Cherfilus-McCormick case rests on a different foundation than the Swalwell matter. The ethics panel's findings give that expulsion push a formal institutional record to cite. Fraud-related allegations fed into the broader ethics case against the Florida Democrat, creating a paper trail that members can point to when casting a vote.
The Swalwell case, by contrast, turns on allegations from a single former staffer that Swalwell flatly denies. No ethics committee investigation into the claims has been publicly announced. Authorities have not said whether the accuser has filed a criminal complaint or whether any agency is reviewing the matter.
Luna said she intends to bring the Swalwell vote next week. "I'm going to bring this vote next week," she told Fox News in reporting on her plans. That timeline is tight, and it remains unclear whether House leadership will attempt to steer the motion toward a committee referral rather than allow an immediate floor vote.
Privileged motions carry procedural weight precisely because they limit leadership's ability to bury uncomfortable votes. Once Luna formally introduces the resolution, the House must act on it within a defined window. Members cannot simply ignore it.
For Republicans, the vote presents a straightforward political opportunity: force Democrats to either defend a colleague facing sexual assault allegations or break ranks against him. For Democrats, the calculus is harder. Voting to expel a member based on unproven allegations sets a precedent that could be weaponized against their own ranks in the future. Voting to protect Swalwell risks the appearance of shielding an accused colleague.
Congressional ethics and misconduct questions have consumed significant floor time in recent sessions. A separate ethics probe involving Rep. Tony Gonzales over alleged personal misconduct illustrates how these investigations cut across party lines and carry real political risk for any member caught in the crosshairs.
Investigators have not publicly confirmed whether any criminal inquiry into the allegations against Swalwell is active. No law enforcement agency has announced an investigation. The former staffer's identity has not been widely disclosed in the coverage provided, and authorities have not said whether she has pursued charges through any jurisdiction.
It also remains unclear whether the House Ethics Committee will open its own investigation before Luna's motion reaches the floor. In past cases, members facing expulsion have argued that the chamber should wait for a formal ethics review or criminal proceeding before taking the extraordinary step of removal.
Swalwell's gubernatorial campaign adds another layer of uncertainty. If he were to withdraw from the governor's race under Democratic pressure, that concession might relieve some political heat but would not resolve the congressional question Luna has forced into the open. Conversely, if he digs in on both fronts, the floor vote becomes a referendum not just on the allegations but on whether Congress will tolerate members who refuse to step aside while facing serious accusations.
The broader pattern of legal jeopardy catching up to powerful political figures has become a recurring theme in American public life. Whether the system holds those figures accountable often depends less on the facts than on whether anyone with procedural leverage is willing to force the question.
Luna has that leverage, and she has made clear she intends to use it. The privileged motion strips away the usual escape routes: no quiet referral, no indefinite delay, no waiting for someone else to act first. Every House member will have to stand and be counted.
When the vote comes, the result will say less about Eric Swalwell than about what Congress is willing to tolerate from its own members. That question has never had a comfortable answer, and next week it gets a public one.
