On Monday, Congressman Tony Gonzales stepped down from his position following revelations by The Daily Mail about a scandal involving a staff member who tragically set herself on fire.
Gonzales, a Republican who had already announced he wouldn’t seek reelection, shared his decision on X, stating, “There is a season for everything, and God has a plan for us all. When Congress resumes tomorrow, I will submit my retirement. Serving the wonderful people of Texas has been an honor.”
His departure comes in the wake of similar ethics investigations that also led to Democrat Eric Swalwell’s resignation.
This announcement follows a month after Gonzales declared he would not pursue another term, having finished second in a jungle primary.
Calls for his withdrawal came from several quarters, including Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Despite the circumstances, Gonzales had vowed to maintain his dedication to his district for the remainder of his tenure.
However, Politico reported Monday that Gonzales was set to face an expulsion vote before the House alongside Swalwell, who quit minutes earlier.
For months, speculation has swirled over whether or not the Texan would fess up to the allegation, which was first reported in October 2025. And he came under mounting pressure to resign from his position of power after sexually charged texts between Gonzales and Aviles were released.
Congressman Tony Gonzales became the second Congressman to resign Monday following a sex scandal involving a staffer who eventually set herself on fire
The bombshell correspondence showed the married congressman petitioning his staffer for inappropriate pictures and asking her about sexual preferences.
‘We have encouraged him to address these very serious allegations directly with his constituents and his colleagues,’ the joint statement continued.
One day after his primary race on Tuesday, and as calls for his resignation from Republicans and Democrats reached a boiling point, Gonzales admitted to the affair.
He called it a ‘mistake’ and a ‘lapse in judgment.’ He added: ‘I take full responsibility for those actions. Since then, I have reconciled with my wife, Angel. I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has. And my faith is as strong as ever.’
His admission came just after the House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into the Texan’s conduct following a report from the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) indicating ‘substantial reason to believe’ Gonzales was embroiled in the affair. It is against congressional rules for a member to have an affair with a subordinate.
When pressed about Gonzales’s admission, Johnson did not let much slip but admitted it was ‘not against the law.’
‘I’m not going to get into private conversations,’ Johnson told Punchbowl News. ‘But I’ve told him to be forthright. Apparently now he’s doing that.’
When asked whether Gonzales should remain in Congress, given the scandal, the top Republican – and devout Christian – played coy.
‘Marital infidelity is not against the law,’ Johnson said.
Reminded that it’s against House rules for a member to have an affair with a staffer, Johnson admitted it was.
‘Well, of course, yeah. That’s being addressed. There is an investigation at Ethics. The OCC is on it. All those steps have already been taken and apparently were underway.’
‘I’ve always been consistent, whether you’re talking about Republicans or Democrats, we let the processes play out,’ the speaker added.
Both Democrats and Republicans have called on Gonzales to resign, or at a minimum, drop his bid for reelection.
Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina accused Gonzales of ‘harassing his own staffer in the middle of the night’ and has called on him to ‘resign immediately and be held fully accountable for what he’s done.’
Mace filed a resolution to force the House Ethics Committee to release its reports on sexual misconduct by members.
However, the House decisively voted to send the resolution to committee – a move that effectively killed Mace’s effort to expose the reports.
‘I think it’s really disgusting how this institution protects itself,’ Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida fumed on Wednesday.
‘We just had a Member of Congress literally sexually harass a woman that then lit herself on fire and you all protected him!’ she decried at a committee hearing. ‘You guys all protected him! My own side, your side.’
This week, Luna filed a censure resolution – one of the most severe punishments in Congress outside of expulsion – against Gonzales for his misconduct.
Chairman of the Congressional Democratic Women’s Caucus, Teresa Leger Fernandez, in addition to scores of other liberal lawmakers, has also called for Gonzales’s resignation.
‘Representative Tony Gonzales’s actions would result in a termination and investigation in any other workplace.’
‘Representative Gonzales should resign,’ she added, noting his ‘abuse of power.’
Gonzales’s position seemed even more tenuous after he finished second in the Republican Primary to return to his seat to Brandon Herrera, a conservative YouTuber known as ‘The AK Guy.’
His competitor finished first with 43.3 percent of the vote to Gonzales’s 41.7 percent.
The two of them would have faced a run-off election in late May to determine the Republican nominee in the November midterms.
