SOUTH TEXAS (CNN) — Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales announces his resignation from Congress amid misconduct allegations.
Embattled Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales announced Monday that he would step down from Congress, just days before he faced the possibility of a high-stakes vote that could have made him the seventh member to ever be expelled from the House.
The Texas Republican said he planned to file his retirement from office on Tuesday, which GOP leadership sources confirmed to CNN meant that he would resign. Gonzales had been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for having a relationship with a former senior aide in his congressional office.
It was not immediately clear when the resignation would take effect. Gonzales and Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell have both been under fierce pressure by their House colleagues to resign after allegations that they had sexual relationships with people who had worked for them. Swalwell announced his own resignation minutes before Gonzales.
Behind the scenes, a plan had emerged for a woman from each party, Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico and GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, to each draft an expulsion measure to force separate removal votes targeting the two members. The GOP representative’s measure would target Swalwell, while the Democrat’s would target Gonzales.
Gonzales had already lost support from GOP leaders, though they did not call on him to resign from Congress immediately. Instead, they called for him to withdraw from his election, which he did.
Gonzales announced his decision in a statement posted to X.
"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.
Gonzales had acknowledged an affair with a former staffer, a violation of House rules. The former staffer later died by suicide.
Then last week, the San Antonio Express-News published previously unreported texts that Gonzales allegedly sent the political director of his campaign in June 2020, during his first run for Congress.
The texts, as published by the Express-News, included Gonzales repeatedly soliciting nude photos from the staffer and describing how he wanted to have sex with her. In one text, he asked a specific question.
"What kind of panties do you wear?" Gonzales said.
That alleged conduct was separate from the affair; the staffer who received the texts told the San Antonio Express-News the relationship never became physical.
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