House Ethics Chairman moves to fire George Santos
The Republican chairman of the bipartisan House Ethics Committee on Friday introduced a resolution to expel Representative George Santos of New York from Congress, citing the committee’s scathing new report documenting widespread campaign fraud and violations of House rules.
The decision by Representative Michael Guest of Mississippi, the committee chairman, laid the groundwork for a crucial post-Thanksgiving vote that could make Mr. Santos the sixth representative to be expelled from the chamber.
“The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Commission’s investigation is more than sufficient to justify a penalty,” Mr. Guest said in a statement accompanying his five-page resolution. “And the most appropriate punishment is deportation.”
Mr. Santos, a Republican, has survived two deportation attempts after a flurry of reports in The New York Times and other publications exposed his fabricated life story and federal prosecutors charged him with 23 crimes.
But support for Santos appeared to quickly crumble Friday, as dozens of lawmakers from both parties indicated that the ethics report — showing how he spent tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions on Botox, Ferragamo goods and vacations — was the final report. straw for a lawmaker who has caused political headaches for a year.
The 35-year-old Santos now faces a crucial decision: stay and fight a potentially humiliating impeachment, or preemptively resign in the hope of currying favor with prosecutors.
Leaving Congress would mean giving up his $174,000 annual salary as his legal bills pile up. Mr. Santos would also rule out any possibility of a congressional pension after he retires: members must serve five years to receive one.
So far he has shown no remorse. He branded the investigation Thursday a “politicized smear” and vowed to continue serving his constituents for as long as he was allowed to. But in an apparent effort to avoid an eviction fight, he announced he would not seek another term in his Long Island and Queens district.
It was unclear whether this would have the desired effect, although the threshold for expulsion is high: two-thirds of the chamber would have to vote in favor of removal.
“The report is thorough and damning,” Rep. Ashley Hinson, Republican of Iowa, wrote in a speech post on X. “His behavior was illegal and unacceptable and Americans deserve better from their representatives.”
Representative Jamie Raskin, an influential Democrat from Maryland, said he had opposed previous censures of Mr. Santos to avoid setting a precedent “of deporting people based on intuition, without criminal convictions or formal disciplinary findings .”
“Now that these findings have been made of very serious misconduct in his case,” Mr. Raskin added, “our duty seems clear.”
The potential expulsion vote will also provide an early test for Speaker Mike Johnson, the new Republican leader, who had previously suggested it would be premature to remove Mr. Santos from office while a criminal case is pending. Santos has been a political drag on the party, but Republicans can hardly afford to lose his seat given their razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
In a statement on Thursday evening, Mr Johnson refused to provide Mr Santos with cover. He called the report “deeply disturbing” and urged members of both parties to “consider the interests of the institution.”
Back in New York, leaders of both parties were already engaged in deliberations over a possible special election to fill Santos’ seat early next year. President Biden won the seat in 2020 by eight points, but Republicans have dominated the area since then.
If Mr. Santos were to resign or be ousted, his seat would be subject to a special election scheduled by Governor Kathy Hochul of New York. Local party leaders typically choose their nominees in special elections.
The chairman of the Nassau County Republican Party reiterated calls for Santos to resign and has been investigating possible candidates for months.
Democratic leaders have privately indicated that they will most likely nominate Thomas R. Suozzi, who held the seat before Santos but gave it up to run for governor.
Only five members of the House of Representatives have been expelled in the body’s history. Three of them were expelled during the Civil War for fighting for the Confederacy. Two others – Michael J. Myers in 1980 and James A. Traficant Jr. in 2002 – were convicted in criminal court before being deported.
Before the report was released Wednesday, members of Congress made much of the precedent that would be set by impeaching Mr. Santos. They argued that he was entitled to a fair trial like any other American citizen and had the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
At the same time, the Ethics Committee seemed to indicate that it viewed this case as different from all previous ones. Despite a long tradition of respect for federal prosecutors, the committee has chosen to continue its own investigation and make its findings public in this case.
In its report, the committee explained that decision by referring to a “duty to protect the integrity of the House and the interests of justice,” concluding that waiting would “effectively prevent the committee from exercising any oversight” over Mr. Santos.
Lucas Broadwater contributed reporting from Washington DC