{"id":595091,"date":"2026-05-02T15:03:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=595091"},"modified":"2026-05-02T15:03:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T15:03:42","slug":"dhs-bars-former-dem-congresswoman-family-from-federal-funds-over-5m-fema-theft-scandal-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=595091","title":{"rendered":"DHS bars former Dem congresswoman, family from federal funds over $5M FEMA theft scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has blocked former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother and associates from accessing federal disaster funds.<\/p>\n

Their access to disaster funds was suspended \u201cfollowing a federal indictment alleging they misappropriated approximately $5.7 million in disaster funds and used the proceeds for personal enrichment and illegal campaign contributions,\u201d according to a DHS press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\ud83d\udea8\"DHS and @FEMA<\/a> have SUSPENDED Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, her brother, and multiple associates from receiving future federal funds.<\/p>\n

These individuals were indicted for funneling OVER $5 MILLION of FEMA relief funds for personal enrichment and illegal campaign\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/KE3HuPGOHs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cFormer Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick abused Americans\u2019 trust in the most egregious way possible. She manipulated the COVID-19 crisis to funnel over $5 million dollars of FEMA relief funds to her and her family members,\u201d DHS General Counsel James Percival said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is outright fraud. That\u2019s exactly what a federal grand jury and the U.S. House of Representatives found. I am proud that my office is taking the first step to ensure she is held accountable and American taxpayers\u2019 money is protected from further misuse,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The suspension comes a few weeks after Cherfilus-McCormick resigned in disgrace moments before the House Ethics Committee was about to recommend that she be expelled.<\/p>\n

In January, the committee released a damning report saying that they had \u201csubstantial reason to believe\u201d that she had violated the law and that they were \u201cbringing charges\u201d against her related to campaign finance laws and regulations.<\/p>\n

Florida Congressman Greg Steube announced at the time that he\u2019d be filing a resolution to expel her from Congress.<\/p>\n

\n

In November, I filed a resolution to expel @CongresswomanSC<\/a> following her indictment by the DOJ.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s House Ethics findings detail more than two dozen counts of serious financial crimes.<\/p>\n

When we return to Washington, I\u2019ll call up a resolution to expel her from Congress.\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/s1NSvqxxpx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Ethics Committee report was based on Cherfilus-McCormick being indicted in November for stealing $5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and using it to fund her campaign for office.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0previously reported<\/a>, prosecutors alleged that she and her brother had received a $5 million FEMA overpayment in July of 2021, \u201cwhile their health care company was working on a FEMA-funded staffing contract tied to COVID-19 vaccinations.\u201d<\/p>\n

But instead of returning the money, Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother allegedly decided to steal it by routing it \u201cthrough multiple accounts\u201d to disguise their source.<\/p>\n

In March, the bipartisan Ethics Committee found in a ruling that Cherfilus-McCormick had committed 25 violations of House rules and ethics standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe panel\u2019s myriad charges against Cherfilus-McCormick \u2026 ranged from using ineligible funds to finance her campaign to repeatedly filing false financial disclosure forms and seeking \u2018special favors\u2019 with recipients of earmark funding requests,\u201d according to\u00a0Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rep. Scott Peters told\u00a0Axios<\/a> at the time that Cherfilus-McCormick\u2019s resignation would \u201cbe easier for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he\u2019d vote to expel her, he added, \u201cIf someone\u2019s misbehaved in the way she\u2019s said to have misbehaved, I think every member of Congress, regardless of party, has to respond to that, and I think we will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Becca Balint said \u201cshe should resign,\u201d but added that embattled Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales \u201cmust be pushed by Republicans to resign, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even \u201cprogressive\u201d Rep. Pramila Jayapal told Axios that Cherfilus-McCormick should resign, though she too pushed for\u00a0Gonzales\u2019 resignation as well.<\/p>\n

\n

You can\u2019t crime your way into legitimate power.<\/p>\n

Since she was found guilty, she should resign or be removed.#ethics<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/cgQuhplhzF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (@RepMGP) March 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Cherfilus-McCormick has, for her part, long maintained her innocence despite the abundance of evidence against her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reject these allegations and remain confident the full facts will make clear I did nothing wrong,\u201d she said in January. \u201cUntil then, my focus remains where it belongs: delivering for my constituents and continuing the work they sent me to Washington to do,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

She once even tried to play the race card:<\/p>\n

\n

\"\ud83d\udea8\"BREAKING: Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) says the only reason she has been indicted is because she\u2019s black..<\/p>\n

She was caught stealing $5 million in FEMA money.. \"\ud83d\udc40\"<\/p>\n

Do you support this?<\/p>\n

YES or NO?<\/p>\n

IF Yes, Give me a THUMBS-UP\"\ud83d\udc4d\"! pic.twitter.com\/1dKF1mPgk1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Right Scope \"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\" (@RightScopee) January 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has blocked former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother and associates from accessing federal disaster funds. Their access to disaster funds was suspended \u201cfollowing a federal indictment alleging they misappropriated approximately $5.7 million in disaster funds and used the proceeds for personal enrichment and illegal campaign contributions,\u201d according to… Continue reading DHS bars former Dem congresswoman, family from federal funds over $5M FEMA theft scandal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":595070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-595091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-empowerment","category-national-security","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=595091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/595070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=595091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=595091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=595091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}