House Republicans voted to send a measure to expel Rep. George Santos back to the Ethics Committee, buying the embattled congressman more time until a probe into his conduct wraps up.
All Republicans voted to send the matter to Ethics, seven Democrats voted ‘present’ while the others voted against moving the resolution back to committee.
Santos himself voted with Republicans to send the matter to Ethics, then vanished, ducking reporters lurking outside the House floor.
‘The House Republicans are now officially the SAVE SANTOS CAUCUS,’ Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who introduced the resolution, said.
Making his case for expelling Santos earlier on Wednesday Garcia said he ‘should not have access to our country’s most guarded secrets.’
The Ethics panel has been investigating Santos since March – looking into whether he engaged in unlawful activity during his campaign, failed to properly disclose financial information to the House and other areas.
Meanwhile Santos’ communications director Naysa Woomer resigned on Wednesday. Woomer accepted the position a week before the first New York Times story broke in December and a source familiar said she’d been unhappy in the position for a ‘long time.’
House Republicans voted to send a measure to expel Rep. George Santos back to the Ethics Committee, buying the embattled congressman more time until a probe into his conduct wraps up
Santos enters the Capitol on the day of a vote on the expulsion matter
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he would ‘quickly’ move to refer the expulsion to Ethics. He could have moved to table the measure, which would require a simple majority, or bring expulsion for a full floor vote, which would need a two-thirds majority, around 70 Republicans and all Democrats.
‘I would like the Ethics Committee to move rapidly on this. I think there’s enough information out there now that they can start looking at this,’ the GOP leader said, in comments that were a step further from previous times where he refused to call on Santos to resign.
‘I think they can come back to Congress, probably faster than the court case.’
McCarthy added: ‘I don’t want to wait around for courts to act. I would like to have the House take action and have a process.’
Democrats introduced the resolution to expel Santos after he was indicted on a string of offenses including money laundering, wire fraud and making false statements during his campaign.
McCarthy said: ‘I don’t want to wait around for courts to act. I would like to have the house take action and have a process’
After the Ethics Committee acts, the full House would vote to expel him.
The investigation is also focused on whether Santos ‘ violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office,’ the House Ethics Committee said in a statement.
If the House were to expel Santos it would lead to a special election in New York’s third district, where President Biden won by eight points in 2020.
Republicans would also be down one vote at least until the seat is filled – a vote they can’t afford to lose with their slim four-seat majority.
House Democrats are introducing a resolution to to expel disgraced GOP Rep. George Santos after he was indicted on a string of offenses including money laundering, wire fraud and making false statements during his campaign
The motion, introduced by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House – meaning around 70 Republicans would have to get on board
He appeared in court last Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to the 13 charges and was freed on $500,000 bail in a pivotal moment in his career, just four months after he was sworn in.
Santos signaled he won’t resign, will still run for reelection and asked why President Biden’s family wasn’t being investigated by the Department of Justice.
Prosecutors have accused him of using donor funds to buy designer clothes and pay off personal debts and for applying for COVID unemployment benefits while running for Congress and making $125,000 a year.
They have also accused him of lying on financial disclosure forms he filed to the House when he became a candidate by overstating his income from one job and failing to disclose income from another. He also allegedly lied about his earnings from his company, Devolder Organization.
He will appear in court again on June 30 and was also made to surrender his passport.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has signaled he will not back Santos’ reelection bid but stopped short of calling for him to resign.
He noted that Sen. Bob Menendez remained in office after being indicted on bribery charges.
