US lawmakers move to force a vote on expelling Rep. Santos from House

House lawmakers from both parties moved Tuesday to force a vote this week on the expulsion of Rep. George Santos, a New York Republican who was the subject of a scathing ethics investigation released earlier this month and who is facing nearly two dozen charges with the federal government. court.

Santos responded to the competing expulsion resolutions by going to the House of Representatives and asking colleagues to understand what kind of precedent it would set if he were removed before the federal charges against him are resolved. He made it clear in advance that he would not resign.

This expulsion vote simply undermines and underlines the precedent we have had in this Chamber, Santos said. It begins and takes us in a new direction, a dangerous one.

Santos has survived two previous expulsion votes. But a report released by the House Ethics Committee after a months-long investigation has sparked new outrage. The report, released on November 16, was unrelenting in its criticism, concluding that Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his candidacy for the House of Representatives for his own personal financial gain.

He shamelessly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into making contributions to his campaign that they believed were in fact payments for his personal benefit, the report said.

Santos was critical of the commission’s investigation, saying it was incomplete and irresponsible, riddled with hyperbole and riddled with biased opinions.

The Ethics Commission made no recommendations on how to deal with Santos, but said doing so would involve a lengthy, litigation-like process that would only give Santos more opportunity to defer responsibility for his actions. The committee described Santos as uncooperative in its investigation.

Instead, the committee simply submitted its report to the House. Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., the panel’s chairman, then followed through on his resolution to expel Santos. Guest called the evidence uncovered during the investigation more than enough to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment is deportation.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a New York Republican whose congressional district borders Santos County, offered the guest-sponsored resolution on Tuesday. Overall, the sponsor offered its own measure in the House chamber, but leadership decided it was important for members of the New York delegation to take the lead.

He (Guest) knows how important it is to us New Yorkers, especially us freshmen, who lived in a state that has historically been blue. We flipped the seats that are important, that won this majority,” D’Esposito said. And if we want to keep those seats, I think we have to get rid of the stain that is George Santos.

Because the resolution is prerogative, Chairman Mike Johnson must act on it within two days. The vote could take place as early as Wednesday.

The Republican effort came hours after California Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat, took steps to force an expulsion vote against Santos. He called it a necessary step in case Republicans fail to act on the Ethics Commission’s findings.

Whatever it takes to get that vote this week, that’s what we’ll do, Garcia said.

Expelling Santos would require the support of at least two-thirds of the voting members of the House of Representatives. Garcia said he expects the House to easily reach that number, which would make Santos just the sixth House member to be impeached by his colleagues, and only the third since the Civil War.

Many who voted against deportation earlier this month said it was important to wait until the Ethics Panel completed its investigation.

In modern times, it is precedent in the House for representatives to be expelled only after conviction of a crime,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said in a prepared statement. In the case involving Representative Santos, the Ethics Committee has now identified and documented conduct as serious as that of members who have been disbarred on previous occasions following felony convictions.

Lofgren voted against deportation earlier this month. She said it’s important to follow precedent, but “every precedent has a first time” and now she would vote for expulsion.

Johnson said Monday in Florida that he had spent some time with Santos over the Thanksgiving holiday and talked to him about his options, but it had not yet been determined how the House would proceed.

They spoke again on Tuesday. Santos told reporters that Johnson asked how he was doing and whether he had made his decision.

I said yes. “I mean, put it or shut up at this point,” Santos said.

He added that lawmakers want him to resign because they don’t want to set a precedent “for their own demise in the future, hinting at deportation before his federal case is resolved.” Santos faces 23 charges, including allegations that he stole the identities. of donors to his campaign and then used their credit cards to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges.

Santos is also accused of falsely reporting to the Federal Election Commission that he had loaned his campaign $500,000, when he had actually given nothing and had less than $8,000 in the bank. The bogus loan was an attempt to convince Republican Party officials that he was a serious candidate worthy of their financial support, the indictment said.

Whatever expulsion resolution comes up for a vote this week, Garcia said the vote to expel would be a bipartisan one. “I think it will be overwhelming,” he said.