In a rare move, the House of Representatives has voted to remove embattled Rep. George Santos, a Republican from New York.
This marks the first time a House member has been expelled in more than 20 years. The last expulsion occurred in 2002 when former Rep. Jim Traficant, a Democrat from Ohio, was removed from Congress after being convicted on 10 felony counts, including racketeering and bribery.
Santos, however, has not been convicted of any crimes. He is facing 23 charges, including wire fraud, identity theft, falsifying records, and credit card fraud, all related to the alleged misuse of campaign funds for personal luxuries like botox. Santos has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Expelling a member of Congress is no easy feat, requiring a two-thirds majority vote.
Santos was already in hot water prior to his indictment. Santos admitted shortly after the election that most of his backstory to get elected was a lie.
Santos stated he was a graduate of Baruch College, had worked with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and then there was the phony story of his grandparents surviving the Holocaust.
“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said at the time. “I am not a criminal,” he added. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
The House GOP seemed divided on whether to expel Santos. Rep. Darrell Issa, a former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, argued that removing Santos would undermine the principle of innocence until proven guilty. He pointed out that Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, faced bribery accusations but remained in the Senate, as he had not been tried in civil or criminal court.
“He hasn’t been tried either civilly or criminally, and that’s what probably gives me the most pause,” Issa said. “I’ve also become aware that the Republicans on the ethics committee wanted to consider a lesser sanction than removing him, and the three Democrats were not willing to consider anything except the expulsion.”
On the other hand, the New York Republican delegation, to which Santos belongs, believed there was enough evidence to justify his expulsion.
Rep. Marc Molinaro, another New York Republican, stated, “I believe that George Santos has committed crimes. He’s defrauded voters, taxpayers, and donors.”
“And we have established, through a comprehensive investigation, the standard by which he should be expelled,” Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., told reporters.
“I just hope that my colleagues see through any distortion and see that we have an individual who is divorced from reality, who has committed crimes, is a con man and will continue to behave in the way he has and has met the threshold not to serve the house,” Molinaro continued.
Santos himself had predicted his expulsion, openly discussing his expectations during an interview on “Fox & Friends.”
This expulsion sets a significant precedent, reminding lawmakers and the public of the weighty responsibility that comes with serving in Congress and the consequences that allegations of wrongdoing can bring.
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