Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) announced that he plans to file his resignation from the House on Tuesday, over a month after admitting to having an affair with a staffer who died by suicide last year.
“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all,” Gonzales wrote in a post to X on Monday evening. “When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas.”
It is unclear what date Gonzales plans to leave Congress. However, his statement comes as he was facing an expulsion effort led by Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) over allegations he sent lewd text messages to at least two staff members, including Regina Santos-Aviles, who was married and died in 2025 after setting herself on fire.
Gonzales’s announcement came shortly after Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) announced he was resigning from Congress after a string of sexual assault allegations came out against him last week.
Leger Fernandez said in a statement on X that Gonzales has until 2 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday to file his resignation, or else she will move forward with her motion to expel him.
“He better write that resignation ‘effective immediately,’” Leger Fernandez wrote.
Gonzales ended his reelection campaign earlier this year after admitting to having an affair with Santos-Aviles during an interview with a conservative talk show.
“I made a mistake, and I had a lapse in judgment,” Gonzales said in the interview. “I take full responsibility for those actions.”
Text messages from the congressman appeared to show him pressuring Santos-Aviles into a sexual relationship.
The House ethics committee announced it was opening an investigation into Gonzales in March regarding allegations that he “engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual employed in his congressional office” and “discriminated unfairly by dispensing special favors or privileges.”
However, the committee’s investigations often take months to years to complete, meaning the panel’s inquiry into the matter may not be completed by the time Gonzales leaves Congress.
ERIC SWALWELL TO RESIGN FROM CONGRESS AFTER SEXUAL ASSAULT ACCUSATIONS
The committee only has jurisdiction over sitting lawmakers, making it unlikely that it would vote to release its findings once Gonzales leaves the House. However, such a move would not be unprecedented, as the panel released the findings of an inquiry into former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz in December 2024 following his resignation after being nominated to serve as President Donald Trump’s attorney general, though he later withdrew his name from consideration over Senate opposition.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Gonzales’s office for more information.
