George Santos Faces Expulsion Push From Colleagues

"It's time for him to go," Democrat Robert Garcia said. "We’ve given him plenty of time to resign, and he has chosen not to."
Constituents from the district of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) hold signs during a Feb. 7 news conference outside the U.S. Capitol calling on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to expel Santos.
Constituents from the district of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) hold signs during a Feb. 7 news conference outside the U.S. Capitol calling on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to expel Santos.
Mariam Zuhaib via Associated Press

A group of House Democrats are ratcheting up the pressure on their colleagues to remove embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from Congress, amid calls from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for Santos to either step down or face expulsion.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced a resolution to expel Santos, a step that Republican leaders have so far been unwilling to take. Santos’ own constituents traveled to the Capitol this week to call on lawmakers to boot him from office since he won’t resign.

“We have filed an official expulsion resolution with the House Ethics Committee to get rid of George Santos. It is time for him to go. We’ve given him plenty of time to resign, and he has chosen not to,” Garcia told reporters outside the Capitol, surrounded by other members on board with the resolution, including Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.) and Becca Balint (D-Vt.).

The measure is unlikely to succeed, since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has resisted calling on Santos to resign, and two-thirds of the chamber would need to support Santos’ expulsion. It’s incredibly rare for lawmakers to remove one of their colleagues. Embattled lawmakers will often resign before being forced out. The last House member expelled was Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio) after he was convicted on a litany of corruption charges in 2002.

Pressure continues to mount around Santos, who fabricated or misrepresented most of his background to voters while running for office in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. Santos is under numerous local, state, federal and international investigations, but he’s denied any criminal wrongdoing and isn’t facing any charges.

Garcia on Thursday reviewed the laundry list of things Santos has “embellished,” including claims about his education, career, religion, and connection to the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

“It’s really important for us to recognize that George Santos is a fraud, a liar,” Garcia said.

While a criminal indictment or a formal House Ethics Committee probe would make an expulsion more attractive politically, the group of lawmakers said they can’t afford to wait for either of those things to happen.

“The law is very focused on financial disclosures and campaign finances, and he should be held accountable, because even his own statements have revealed that his financial disclosures are false,” Goldman said. “But we cannot wait for him to be indicted or for an ethics investigation, because those things will not address the things that he has already admitted to lying about. He is a serial liar who does not have the trust of his constituents.”

It doesn’t matter if the group can’t sway the nearly 80 House Republicans who would be needed to meet the supermajority requirement to expel Santos, Torres said. The move is more about getting lawmakers on the record.

“The American people have a right to know where each and every member of Congress stands with respect to George Santos. It’s one thing to condemn him behind the scenes ― it’s something else to force a vote and see where everyone stands,” Torres said. “I think we need transparency.”

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