Congress returned to Washington this week — and it immediately turned into a battlefield.
In the first full week since President Trump ended the 43-day government shutdown, tensions inside the House of Representatives exploded. Lawmakers clashed nonstop as both parties hurled accusations, demanded censures, and pushed to punish their rivals. At least five separate disciplinary measures were introduced in just a matter of days.
This is not “normal Congress.” And Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) admitted as much.
“I’d like us to get back to normal Congress,” Johnson said Wednesday, “but no one knows what that looks like anymore.” Minutes earlier, tempers had already flared after a censure attempt against Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) was sent to the Ethics Committee.
Then came the bombshell.
Steube Drops the Hammer: Expulsion on the Table
Just hours later, Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) announced he would move to expel Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick after a Miami grand jury indicted her on federal charges. Prosecutors accuse her of stealing $5 million in FEMA funds to fuel her 2021 campaign.
Steube didn’t mince words.
He first considered censure — then made it clear that wasn’t enough.
“Defrauding the federal government and disaster victims of $5 million is an automatic disqualifier,” Steube posted. “If she refuses to resign, I will bring the expulsion vote to the floor.”
If it happens, she would become only the seventh lawmaker in American history to be expelled.
Democrats in Meltdown as Scandals Spread
The infighting actually began before the government reopened.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) introduced a resolution against Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) for alleged “election subversion.” Garcia suddenly announced he would not run for reelection — but only after the filing deadline passed. That left his own chief of staff as the only candidate in a deep-blue district.
The GOP-led House approved the rebuke with the help of 23 Democrats, highlighting the growing fractures within their party.
Censure Fights Erupt Over Epstein Texts and Trump Attacks
The drama escalated further when Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) forced a vote to censure Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI). Plaskett had been caught texting Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex predator, seeking dirt on President Trump during a 2019 House Oversight hearing.
Norman’s measure would have removed her from the powerful House Intelligence Committee.
Democrats struck back immediately, pushing their own effort to censure Rep. Cory Mills — accusing him of everything from domestic abuse to “stolen valor.” Mills denies all the allegations and says the attacks are politically motivated.
The Plaskett censure failed, and Republicans erupted, accusing leadership of making a “backroom deal” to protect both Plaskett and Mills — a claim leadership firmly denies.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) responded by forcing another vote to censure Mills and remove him from the Armed Services Committee. That measure also failed.
Indicted Democrat Faces 53 Years in Prison
Then came the biggest shock of the week.
News broke that Cherfilus-McCormick was formally indicted. Federal prosecutors say she and several accomplices stole a $5 million overpayment tied to a COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract in 2021.
She could face up to 53 years in prison.
This is not the first financial controversy surrounding her. During the 2022 special election, she loaned her campaign over $6 million — then paid herself back more than $2.5 million, a move that raised serious ethical questions. She won her primary by just five votes.
A Congress in Crisis — Under Trump’s Watchful Eye
This week’s chaos makes one thing clear: President Trump returned to Washington to clean house — and Washington is fighting back.
Between the indictments, the scandals, the censure wars, and the accusations of secret deals, the House is experiencing one of the most explosive weeks in modern political history.
And with Republicans finally taking corruption seriously, Democrats are discovering what real accountability looks like.