Congressman Tony Gonzales QUITS after Daily Mail exposed affair with staffer who set herself on fire

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 23:40, 13 April 2026 | Updated: 23:48, 13 April 2026 Congressman Tony Gonzales resigned from office Monday after The Daily Mail exposed a sex scandal involving his staffer who eventually set herself on fire. Gonzales, a Republican who previously dropped his bid for reelection, wrote to X Monday: '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.' His resignation follows that of Democrat Eric Swalwell as both faced ethics investigations. The announcement is a month after Gonzales announced he would end his reelection bid after he finished in second place in the jungle primary. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and others had called for Gonzales to drop out.  He had initially promised that for the rest of his term, he would show 'the same commitment I've always had to my district.'  However, Politico reported Monday that Gonzales was set to face an expulsion vote before the House alongside Swalwell, who quit minutes earlier.   Congressman Tony Gonzales became the second Congressman to resign Monday following a sex scandal involving a staffer who eventually set herself on fire The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.