US House braces for rare expulsion wave

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers were facing the extraordinary prospect Monday that as many as four members of the House of Representatives could be expelled within days, in an eruption of scandal that has rattled both parties and thrown the chamber into turmoil.

At the center of the storm is Democrat Eric Swalwell of California, who abruptly suspended his campaign for state governor at the weekend after multiple women accused him of sexual assault or misconduct.

But lawmakers are also zeroing in on separate controversies involving Texas Republican Tony Gonzales and two Florida lawmakers — Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Republican Cory Mills — in what would be an unprecedented burst of disciplinary action.

Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds majority, a threshold so high that Congress has wielded the sanction only in the gravest cases, removing just six members in its 237-year history.