This week, scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos (R-NY) will likely face another House expulsion vote. He’s been here before. In May and in early November, the House considered expulsion measures, only to have the respective resolutions defeated. This time, however, could be different: While many members had balked before, momentum is building to make Santos the first House lawmaker in two decades to be expelled.
As Santos put it in an X Spaces event on Friday: “I’ve done the math over and over, and it doesn’t look really good.”
The results of a more than eight-month investigation by the House Ethics Committee set any upcoming vote apart from the earlier two. That report found “substantial evidence” that Santos broke federal law and that he “fraudulently exploit[ed] every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”
Those findings, which add to myriad reporting about his invented work history, lies about his upbringing and education, and a federal indictment over wire fraud and identity theft, have been enough to change the minds of some of his colleagues.
“I did not vote in the past to expel George because I didn’t believe there was due process,” Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican who had previously opposed expelling Santos, told MSNBC. “I think he’s been given the fair due process now.”
Santos has called the report’s findings “biased” and a “politicized smear” created by colleagues who want him out of office. He told participants in the X Space that an expulsion vote wouldn’t be about any charges he may face, but that, “I’ll be expelled because people simply did not like me.”
Santo has long maintained that he hasn’t committed any crimes, and pleaded “not guilty” to a 23-count federal indictment in a case that will go to trial next year. He has, however, announced he won’t be running for reelection next year, meaning he has one year left on his term if he’s not expelled.
If…
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