Disgraced Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) announced on Monday that he would step down from Congress.
“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas,” Gonzales said.
There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas.
— Rep. Tony Gonzales (@RepTonyGonzales) April 13, 2026
Fox News shared further:
It is currently unclear when Gonzales will formally resign. A spokesperson for Gonzales did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
His announcement came just an hour after Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said he planned to resign after facing allegations of sexual misconduct and rape.
Gonzales and Swalwell each faced expulsion votes this week.
Reports broke last week alleging Gonzales, who ended his re-election campaign after admitting to an affair with a staffer who tragically died last year, made sexual advances on a different staffer in 2020.
More from The Texas Tribune:
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, a New Mexico Democrat and chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, had announced plans to bring an expulsion resolution against Gonzales this week. A Leger Fernández spokesperson said she still plans to file the resolution at 2 p.m. EST Tuesday, given the vague language in Gonzales’ statement, unless he files his resignation “effective immediately” before then.
Gonzales, a Navy veteran first elected in 2020, admitted to having an affair with a staffer in early March, weeks after the San Antonio Express-News reported on the extramarital tryst, including text messages in which the staffer pushed back against Gonzales’ requests for nude photos.
After finishing second in the March Republican primary, GOP leaders — including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson — urged him to drop his reelection bid, and Gonzales followed suit soon after. But most Republicans had stopped short of calling for his resignation or expulsion until the Swalwell allegations brought sexual misconduct to the fore, opening the door for expelling one member from each party without upsetting the partisan makeup of a narrowly divided House.
The House Ethics Committee had opened an investigation into the San Antonio congressman to determine whether he “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his office” and “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
House rules prohibit members of Congress from engaging in sexual relationships with their employees.
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