Rep. George Santos Expelled From Congress

The Home voted Friday to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from Congress, a historic and embarrassing finish to his transient legislative profession that was constructed on lies from the beginning.

The ultimate vote was 311 to 114. A breakdown of the vote tally is right here.

It takes a two-thirds vote of the Home to expel a lawmaker, requiring 290 of the 435 members to vote sure. The vote to expel Santos far surpassed that, however notably, GOP leaders all voted in opposition to expulsion. Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), Majority Chief Steve Scalise (La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.) and GOP Convention Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) all voted no.

Johnson presided over the historic vote.

“In mild of the expulsion of the gentleman from New York, Mr. Santos, the entire variety of the Home is now 434,” he learn aloud from a chunk of paper. Weak applause could possibly be heard someplace within the Home chamber.

Santos had survived two earlier expulsion makes an attempt. What was completely different this time was a scathing report launched final month by the Home Ethics Committee, which persuaded extra lawmakers to say it was time for Santos to go.

The panel, which investigated Santos, discovered that he spent hundreds of {dollars} in marketing campaign funds on private providers and merchandise, similar to Botox therapies, Hermès designer merchandise and entry to a web site used primarily by intercourse staff. The committee additionally alleged that Santos reported pretend donations to his marketing campaign to influence donors to present him much more cash ― after which stored all of that cash for himself.

The GOP chairman of the committee launched the decision to throw Santos out of Congress proper after the panel launched its report. You’ll be able to learn his decision right here.

There have solely been 20 individuals expelled from Congress in its whole historical past, and most had been within the Senate and kicked out within the 1860s for supporting the Confederacy. The final time a federal lawmaker was expelled was in 2002 when then-Rep. Jim Traficant (D-Ohio) was convicted of bribery and racketeering.

Santos is the sixth Home member to be expelled and the primary Republican Home member.

The New York Republican’s expulsion could be the least of his woes. He’s dealing with a 23-count federal indictment that alleges conspiracy, dishonest to get unemployment advantages, bank card fraud and different crimes.

Santos has additionally been accused of mendacity about his résumé so many occasions that it’s exhausting to maintain up. He’s misled individuals about his title, his Jewish heritage, being a descendant of Holocaust survivors from Ukraine, his mom being within the Twin Towers in the course of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults and his mom being the primary feminine govt at a significant monetary establishment. Immigration paperwork present that his mom labored as a housekeeper.

Santos has persistently denied he’s achieved something fallacious. Final month, he dismissed the Home Ethics Committee’s probe into his funds, calling it “a grimy biased act and one which tramples throughout my rights.”

Within the wake of that report, although, he did announce he wouldn’t run for reelection.

A significant purpose that Santos is in Congress in any respect is as a result of Stefanik strongly endorsed him.

“MAJOR ENDORSEMENT ALERT,” Stefanik tweeted in August 2021, with an image of the 2 standing collectively.

“Excited to endorse my pal and fellow America First conservative George Santos for Congress in #NY03,” she tweeted. ”@Santos4Congress will tackle NYC liberal elites and produce a brand new technology of GOP management to NY and America. He has my full assist!”

Stefanik has been all crickets about Santos as his scandals have unfolded. That’s partly as a result of it’s embarrassing that she helped deliver him into the Home, however it’s principally as a result of GOP leaders have such a slim majority that they’ve clung to each seat potential ― together with Santos’ seat ― to be able to push via their agenda. They’ve been keen to miss his fixed lies and felony indictments to maintain his seat from going to a Democrat.

However the ethics investigation was the ultimate straw, and with the 2024 elections in sight, they don’t wish to be related to him and his alleged crimes on the polls.