WASHINGTON (AP) — Embattled North Carolina Republican congressman Chuck Edwards withdrew from his reelection campaign on Wednesday, two days after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured for unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides in his office.
The 65-year-old Edwards, who is serving his second term, said that he made the decision to drop his reelection bid after “much prayer and reflection” and that he would complete the current term.
The Ethics Committee recommended the censure, an act registering its deep disapproval of a lawmaker’s conduct that does not meet the threshold for expulsion, on Monday. The panel highlighted numerous examples of actions it considered improper, including Edwards providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, and sending notes regarding his affection.
Edwards denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, but the committee said his behavior would “lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such.”
“Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life,” Edwards said in a post on X. “Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.”
North Carolina Republican Sen. Ted Budd said Edwards "did the right thing by withdrawing from the race.”
In a statement, the senator said the congressman has been “a fighter for the people of Western North Carolina as they work to recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene, and I know he’ll continue to advocate for disaster funding for the remainder of his time in D.C.”
Budd’s spokesman, Christian McMullen, said the senator found the House Ethics Committee's report on Edwards “deeply concerning" and believed the congressman already faced a significant uphill battle trailing in the polls even before the report's publication. He declined to say whether the senator asked his colleague to step aside, saying the senator does not discuss private conversations.
The Ethic Committee described Edwards' actions as “beyond inappropriate” but said it found no evidence that he explicitly propositioned any person under his employ or engaged in any sexual activity with them.
In a response to the Ethics Committee's report, Edwards’ attorneys argued that the committee’s findings “exonerate” the congressman. His attorneys said the recommendation of censure was an “extraordinarily harsh and infrequent punishment” based on vague standards and adherence to the spirit of House rules, “not based on a direct violation of House rules addressing sexual misconduct.”
State law requires Edwards to put his intent to withdraw in writing and submit it to the state Board of Elections before ballots are mailed to overseas voters and the military. The Republican executive committee in Edwards' district will name a replacement.
FILE - Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., listens to testimony as the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight holds a field hearing on violent crime in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)
An Associated Press investigation found that President Donald Trump's administration has detained dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. military service members as it rolls back immigration protections for their families to pursue its mass deportation agenda.
The immediate family members of U.S. troops have generally not been targets of immigration enforcement. But the AP found they're now routinely being detained for months as they try to adjust their legal status through policies available to service members' close relatives, even as the military recruits by advertising these benefits.
Experts warn that detaining troops' family members undermines military preparedness even as the U.S. is at war in Iran. Military members whose spouses and parents have been placed in detention lose emotional support networks and caretakers for their children, delaying deployments and forcing some to take leave.
Here are the main takeaways from the AP's reporting:
The AP found that at least 52 parents and spouses of active-duty service members have been detained by immigration officers since Trump took office for a second term, and at least six have been deported and one self-deported. At least eight immediate family members of U.S. service members remain in federal immigration custody.
The AP's review is the first accounting of such detentions, and it's likely an undercount. The government does not track such data.
The AP obtained information by analyzing thousands of federal court records compiled by Habeas Docket, a project run by the Immigration Justice Transparency Initiative; by reviewing existing media coverage; and by verifying information with family members and attorneys.
“DHS and ICE value the contributions of all those who have served in the U.S. military,” DHS said in a statement. “U.S. military service alone does not automatically grant lawful immigration status, or exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”
The Pentagon declined to comment.
Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo had to take administrative leave from his job training soldiers at Fort Polk, Louisiana, to care for his 5-year-old stepson, Noah, after his Brazilian wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, was detained in early July.
“It is really overwhelming because I need to take care of my kid by myself. No one is here to help me out,” Jaramillo said.
Other military service members who spoke with the AP echoed these sentiments. At least one soldier had to delay deployment to care for her 5-year-old son after her husband was detained by ICE, court records show.
A new policy, implemented in April 2025, states that “military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”
Dan Gividen, who served as ICE’s deputy chief counsel from 2016 to 2019 under Trump, represents a soldier’s father who has been in ICE custody for more than eight months. He said that during his time as an ICE prosecutor, immigration authorities rarely detained service members’ immediate family members unless they had committed violent crimes.
“We would not place them into removal proceedings, period. That’s insane,” Gividen said. “The fact that they’re doing it now is just outrageous.”
One of the military’s most highly advertised immigration benefits is “military parole-in-place,” which allows the spouses, children and parents of active-duty service members and veterans to obtain legal immigration status from within the U.S.
The policy was implemented under Republican President George W. Bush during the U.S. war with Iraq in 2007 and codified under Democratic President Barack Obama. But DHS agencies have discretion over whether to grant it on a case-by-case basis.
The AP found that family members of troops are being held in detention despite having pending military parole-in-place applications and some were detained while appearing at appointments to adjust their legal status.
Recruiters for the Army and the National Guard still promote enlistment as a way to protect family members from immigration enforcement.
Recruiters are expected to highlight the benefits of service to attract applicants, Army spokesperson Christopher Surridge said.
The National Guard said it does not track detentions of its troops’ relatives or which recruiters advertise immigration benefits and referred additional comment to DHS.
Cpl. Jose Manuel Vilchis-Valle said recruiters used these benefits to help convince him to enlist. But his mother was detained at an appointment in August 2025 and deported to Mexico within a week even as she was trying to adjust her legal status.
“They basically told me that if you serve, and if you served honorably, you can help your parents,” said Vilchis-Valle, 23, who was honorably discharged shortly after his mother was deported. “In a perfect world, I wished, because of my service, they could have pardoned her.”
Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo shows photos of his wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a Brazilian national who is detained by ICE, near the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center where she is currently held, in Basile, La., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Joseph Vidrine)
Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo poses with a photo of his wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a Brazilian national who is being detained by ICE, before visiting her at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, La., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Joseph Vidrine)
Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez, whose wife Cristy has been detained by immigration authorities, looks at family photos at home in El Paso, Texas, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Romero)
Army Sgt. Hedar Leonel Turcios Juarez holds a picture of himself with with his wife Cristy, who is currently on immigration detention, at home in El Paso, Texas, July 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Romero)
