When the House voted last week to expel one of its own who hadn’t been convicted of a crime, it broke new ground — and left lawmakers wondering whose head may be next.
The chamber voted overwhelmingly to oust George Santos, a New York Republican who admitted to fabricating major parts of his biography and was indicted on 23 charges of conspiracy, fraud, false records and statements and identity theft, but who has yet to go to trial.
He is only the sixth House member to be expelled in the chamber’s more than 230-year history — and the first to be ushered out without being convicted, or having been part of the Confederacy’s rebellion in the Civil War.
Many ethics groups cheered the move, saying they hope it shows a House more willing to police bad behavior without waiting for the wheels of justice to grind to a conclusion.
“If we have an opportunity in this great institution to start a new precedent, one that means we hold members of the House of Representatives to a higher standard, I am pretty confident that the American people would applaud that,” said Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a New York Republican who led the ouster proceedings against his fellow New Yorker.
But those who opposed the move said it sets a worrying new standard for short-circuiting due process and delivering a form of mob justice.
“It’s like witnessing an otherwise fair and compassionate village gather to celebrate the burning of an alleged witch,” said Rep. Clay Higgins, Louisiana Republican.
Mr. Santos’s opponents said they acted after the House ethics committee delivered a devastating report finding a tsunami of illegal behavior to turn his congressional campaign into a personal moneymaker, spending money on everything from pornography to botox, then concealing it all through bogus campaign finance reports.
They said the House is not a court of law, but rather a public trust given by voters. Mr. Santos bamboozled those voters, they said, and it was up to Congress to rectify matters.
Rep. Mike Lawler, New York Republican, said Mr. Santos lied about aspects of his life “from birth all the way to his election.”
“I understand the concern that there was not a conviction,” Mr. Lawler told The Washington Times. “I understand the concern that this can be weaponized. But to me, this was bigger than the party, it was bigger than a majority was, it was about doing what is right.”
Mr. Santos lied to voters about everything from where he went to high school and college to having worked on Wall Street and apparently even about being Jewish. That was before he was accused of lying on House financial disclosure and misusing campaign funds. The list goes on.
The vote to oust Mr. Santos was 311-114, which is well more than the two-thirds needed to expel a member. Democrats were overwhelmingly in favor, 206-2, while the GOP was nearly evenly split at 105-112.
The top GOP leadership voted against expulsion.
Mr. Santos said he was being railroaded and decried the “hypocrisy” of colleagues he said had their own skeletons in closets.
“Are we really going to ignore the fact that we all have pasts, and we all have the media coming out against us on a daily basis?” he said. “I am not going to stand here to smear them. I am not going to stand here and use the time I have to say ill things about my colleagues. I refuse to stoop to that level.”
He added: “Take the vote. I am at peace.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who backed Mr. Santos in the vote, said the House set a worrying standard.
“Since the beginning of this Congress, there are only two ways you get expelled: You get convicted of a crime, or you participated in the Civil War. Neither apply to George Santos,” Mr. Gaetz said.
He pointed to former Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who like Mr. Santos faced charges of stealing from his campaign to use for personal issues. He served throughout his indictment and even remained in Congress for a month after his guilty plea, finally resigning in January 2020.
Mr. Gaetz wondered why the Senate hasn’t acted to expel Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who is still serving despite a September indictment charging that he took repeated bribes, including nearly $500,000 in cash, a Mercedes and gold bars, to deliver favors for a foreign government, Egypt.
Mr. Menendez also serves as another reminder about indictments and convictions.
While a sitting senator he previously faced federal corruption charges, but that case ended in a mistrial after a hung jury failed to deliver a verdict. His Democratic colleagues rewarded him by restoring him to his committee leadership post.
Then there’s the case of Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat who has pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge after pulling a fire alarm and disrupting a critical House vote.
Unlike Mr. Santos, the House Ethics Committee opted not to launch an investigation into Mr. Bowman’s conduct despite his guilty plea.
Mr. Santos’s last move as a lawmaker was to file a resolution seeking to expel Mr. Bowman.
Ethics groups said Congress showed courage in breaking new ground.
“Today the House of Representatives took that action and demonstrated its oversight capabilities, sending a powerful message that members of Congress have a responsibility to the American people to uphold the highest ethical standards,” said Issue One, an ethics advocacy group run by former Reps. Tim Roemer and Zach Wamp.
But they also felt compelled to caution lawmakers “to not allow this to be a precedent or a reason for future political retaliations.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who had previously argued against expelling Mr. Santos, said he changed his mind after the ethics committee report. After Friday’s vote, Mr. Raskin said the GOP has set a new standard, but will be challenged in how far to take it.
“The Republican Party has a very serious problem now,” Mr. Raskin said. “They have proclaimed a new standard of ethics and yet they all continue to stand by Donald Trump.”
But Mr. Gaetz said Congress was stealing the job the Constitution gave to the people in New York’s third congressional district.
“If George Santos is convicted, he ought to be expelled. Until then, it is an incredibly dangerous thing for people in Washington, D.C., to substitute their judgment for the judgment of voters,” Mr. Gaetz said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.