George Santos Expelled From Congress

Ted Johnson
·3-min read

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled from Congress today, as enough Republicans joined with Democrats to oust the lawmaker who is facing criminal charges and a devastating ethics committee report.

The House vote came after GOP leaders announced their opposition to his ouster. That raised the prospect that he could survive the vote. But in the end, there were 311 votes to expel, well clearing the 2/3 threshold needed: 105 Republicans and 206 Democrats voted to oust him; 112 Republicans and two Democrats voted against the resolution. Two Democrats also voted present.

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Santos, wearing a coat over his shoulders, left the House chamber before the vote was made official. With reporters chasing him, he got in a waiting car and left Capitol grounds. According to CNN, he said, “Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place.”

Before he was even sworn into Congress in January, Santos attracted widespread attention as revelations came to light of the fabrications of his resume and background. He already faces criminal charges, with the DOJ having filed an array of additional counts against him last month, including wire fraud and identity theft. He has pleaded not guilty.

He had survived a previous expulsion vote, but the effort to oust him gained new momentum after the House Ethics Committee released a report on his use of campaign funds. The report concluded that he “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.” The report also concluded that he “cannot be trusted.”

Santos is the sixth member of the House to be expelled from the chamber. The last, Rep. James Traficant (D-OH), was ousted in 2002 after being convicted of taking bribes and other charges. Some of the members who opposed Santos’ ouster said that despite the ethics report, the House should wait to see the outcome of his court proceedings before expelling him.

His ouster means that the GOP has just a three-seat majority.

Santos’s ouster means that a special election will be held to fill his seat, giving Democrats another opportunity to cut into Republicans already thin majority.

Santos had blasted Congress as corrupt this week as he faced the expulsion vote, appearing at a press conference on the grounds of the Capitol Thursday morning. Later, he sparred with another GOP member on the floor of the House as lawmakers debated the resolution to expel him. “You, sir, are a crook,” said Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), to which Santos responded, “Same colleague who is accused of being a woman beater.” That was a reference to allegations made by his former girlfriend, former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham. Miller denied the allegations.

On Friday, just before the vote, Miller sent a note to House Republicans in which he claimed that Santos’ campaign had made unauthorized charges to his personal credit card and to that of his mother.

Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), the chairman of the Ethics Committee, told reporters, “I understand the precedent that some members feel that this set, that this sets a precedent that members can be removed from Congress without a conviction. In years past, many members have chosen to resign instead of forcing Congress to take a vote to expel. But if you look at the report, if you read those findings again, they find substantial evidence of multiple violations which, in my case, clearly supported expulsion. We followed the Constitution in the way that this was to play out.”

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