Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, announced Monday that he is retiring from Congress after the House Ethics Committee launched a probe into him over a romantic relationship with a former staffer who later died by suicide.
“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 on X.
He did not specify when he plans to step down. Gonzales had announced last month that he was dropping his re-election bid.
His announcement came shortly after Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., announced his own plans to resign amid sexual assault and misconduct allegations. Calls from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to expel Swalwell and Gonzales grew louder over the weekend.
Two separate measures to remove Swalwell and Gonzales were set to be introduced in the House this week. After Swalwell announced his plans to resign, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., said she would introduce the resolution to expel Gonzales.
Leger Fernández said in a separate post following Gonzales' announcement that he "has until 2PM tomorrow" to clarify when he will leave Congress.
"He has until 2PM tomorrow—when we will file his expulsion. He better write that resignation 'effective immediately,'" she wrote.
Gonzales did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who had said that she would support Leger Fernández's resolution to expel Gonzales and that she would introduce another measure to expel Swalwell before his announcement, celebrated Monday's announcements.
"We have successfully drained part of the swamp this week with the resignation of two very corrupt members of Congress," Luna wrote on X.
Gonzales and Swalwell were two of four members of Congress facing potential expulsion votes. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., and Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., are both facing ethics investigations.
"Two down. Two to go," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said in a social media post Monday night following the announcements from Swalwell and Gonzales.
A House Ethics subcommittee found Cherfilus-McCormick guilty of 25 ethics charges last month following a federal indictment on charges that she stole $5 million in federal relief funds and made illegal contributions to her 2022 congressional campaign. Cherfilus-McCormick has said she is innocent and pleaded not guilty in her criminal case.
Mills is facing allegations of campaign finance violations, sexual misconduct and dating violence, as well as alleged abuse of his position regarding a federal contract. Mills has denied any wrongdoing and said in a speech on the House floor last year that "all the accusations and false things being said will be proven to be absolutely false in many ways."
Gonzales, who was running for re-election, announced last month that he would drop that bid after it was reported that he exchanged sexually explicit texts with a staffer who later died by suicide.
NBC News previously reported that Gonzales and the former aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, exchanged sexual texts in 2024. Santos-Aviles' widower, Adrian Aviles, verified the texts.
Gonzales acknowledged that he had had a relationship with a staffer in a podcast shortly before he dropped out of the race.
Later, a second former staffer told NBC News that Gonzales had exchanged sexually explicit texts with her while she worked for him.
Under Texas law, it’s too late for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special election in time for the regularly scheduled May elections, which typically means the next election for a vacant seat would take place in November during the general election.
But in 2018 Abbott called an emergency special election after Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold resigned in April, arguing the election was needed to ensure the congressional district would be represented during discussions about hurricane relief.
It’s not clear whether Abbott would be able to do the same in this situation. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday about the timing of a potential special election for Gonzales’ seat.
