Ingrid Jacques: Swalwell, Gonzales rightly resigned. Let’s elect better people

I had to laugh when I read this headline from the Babylon Bee, the conservative satire site: “With Swalwell Resigning, Just 534 Perverts Left In Congress.”

It’s funny (and sad) because there is some truth to it.

On April 13, two members of Congress – Reps. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, and Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, said they’d be resigning, heading off ethics probes and possible expulsion. Both were embroiled in sexually related scandals.

They’re not the only alleged misbehaving lawmakers. Plenty of others in recent years have brought embarrassment and controversy to their office.

Remember George Santos, the one who made up his résumé? The former New York Republican congressman was expelled from the House in late 2023 (a rare event) after a damning ethics probe and federal criminal charges. He was later convicted and sentenced – but then pardoned by President Donald Trump in 2025.

And there was the even more alarming case of former Sen. Bob Menendez, the Democrat from New Jersey who spent decades in Congress. He resigned in 2024, only after being convicted of corruption charges related to bribery and foreign influence. He’s now serving an 11-year sentence.

This makes me wonder: In a country with more than 340 million people, can’t we find 535 who aren’t creeps or criminals to represent the American people’s interests?

If there’s any “good” in these latest oustings, at least they happened quickly and without drawn-out investigations.

And while I am a firm believer in due process and not assuming guilt by accusation, the fact that Swalwell and Gonzales left on their own accord says a lot.

Swalwell, who ran for president in 2020, was also running this year for governor of California. He ended that bid after the allegations broke.

In recent days, Swalwell has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and misconduct. Some of those accusations are truly alarming. One woman, Lonna Drewes, alleges Swalwell drugged, raped and choked her in 2018.

“He raped me, and he choked me,” Drewes said this week at a news conference. “And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness. I thought I died.”

Swalwell has denied all the accusations. However, whispers of untoward behavior have circulated for years. A recent Washington Post headline states that Swalwell “rose to the top of Democratic politics as rumors followed him.”

For Gonzales’ part, he has admitted to having an affair with a staffer, who died by suicide in September. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had already asked Gonzales in March not to seek re-election. But the calls for his resignation were increasing.

The misbehavior among our nation’s lawmakers is a bipartisan problem. So it’s encouraging to hear congressional members of both parties demanding accountability for their colleagues’ missteps.

“All survivors of sexual assault deserve justice,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said in a statement. “The resignations of Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales are an initial step in that direction. Their actions are unacceptable of anyone, anywhere – certainly not members of Congress.”

Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida wrote on X: “We have successfully drained part of the swamp this week with the resignation of two very corrupt members of Congress.”

As a country, we should expect our lawmakers to be held to a higher standard, considering the trust we’ve put in them.

Yet, given these latest resignations, it seems the political parties need to do a better job recruiting individuals to run. Then, it’s on voters to choose them more carefully at the ballot box.

It’s a big country. Surely, there are better options out there.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA Today. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques