New York Republicans move to force George Santos expulsion vote

Santos flipped a competitive New York district in the 2022 midterms, but damaging articles about his myriad campaign lies and past activities began to appear prior to his being sworn in.

By Ben Whedon

Published: October 26, 2023 10:22pm

A group of New York Republican lawmakers on Thursday moved to force a vote on the expulsion of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from the House as he faces criminal charges and public scrutiny over a litany of sordid activities that came to light after his election.

Santos flipped a competitive New York district in the 2022 midterms, but damaging articles about his myriad campaign lies and past activities began to appear prior to his being sworn in. He has refused to resign and pleaded not guilty to 13 criminal counts in May.

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., brought the privileged resolution on Thursday, meaning the chamber has two legislative days to act on it, though the House will not return until Wednesday. It falls to newly-minted House Speaker Mike Johnson to determine how best to proceed, The Hill reported. He may either seek to table the resolution, a move that would require a simple majority vote. He could also refer the resolution to a House committee, which would again need majority support.

Alternatively, he could proceed with the vote. Two-thirds of the chamber must support expulsion to boot Santos from the chamber. Prior House Speaker Kevin McCarthy opted to refer a previous expulsion resolution to the House Ethics Committee.

While not the first congressional effort to punish him in some way, the group of New York Republicans cited the recent guilty plea of former Santos campaign treasurer Nancy Marks as motivating the move.

"I think the difference between this and what the Democrats had brought is that you have a guilty plea in court by his treasurer, confirming significant details and obviously a superseding indictment based on that conviction and guilty plea by his treasurer," said New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler.

Apart from the criminal charges, Santos has admitted to lying about his background, falsely claiming to have worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. He has since stated that he worked for a third firm, LinkBridge, that he claimed did business with both. Santos also claimed that his family fled Nazi Germany to escape persecution, though numerous reports have cast doubt on that claim as well. He has further settled charges in Brazil, where he also allegedly performed as a drag queen.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.