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.
— Rep. Tony Gonzales (@RepTonyGonzales) April 13, 2026
WASHINGTON — Rep. Tony Gonzales resigned from Congress Monday after The Daily Mail exposed a sex scandal involving his staffer who later set herself on fire, marking the second House resignation in a single day.
Gonzales, a Texas Republican who previously dropped his reelection bid, wrote on X: “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 followed that of Democrat Eric Swalwell, who quit minutes earlier as both faced ethics investigations. Politico reported Gonzales was set to face an expulsion vote.
The scandal erupted after Daily Mail reported Gonzales’s alleged affair with regional district director Regina Aviles, 35, who died in September 2025 after dousing herself with gasoline and catching fire. A second unnamed staffer who came forward told Daily Mail: “Just remember to pray for the innocents in all of this. Tony’s wife and children did not deserve this. Regina Santos Aviles did not deserve this.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna fumed on the House floor: “We just had a Member of Congress literally sexually harass a woman that then lit herself on fire and you all protected him!”