Rep. George Santos, the New York Republican of Brazilian descent, whose web of lies and schemes has made him a nationally ridiculed figure and criminally indicted, was expelled from Congress on Friday (1) following a historic bipartisan vote.
The measure consigned Santos, who throughout his short political career invented connections to the Holocaust, 9/11, and the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, to a genuine place in the history of American politics: he is the first person to be expelled from the House of Representatives without having first been convicted of a federal crime.
The expulsion, which required a two-thirds majority, was approved with 311 lawmakers voting for the expulsion, including 105 Republicans, and 114 against. The Republican majority, which was already slim, now becomes even narrower.
The decision by the lawmakers ends one of the most turbulent political odysseys in recent memory, a surprising turnaround in the fortunes of a political outsider whose election in Long Island and Queens last year was once heralded as a sign of Republican resurgence in the district.
Instead, Santos became a passive figure in the Republican Party, whose vast network of lies and offenses led many to question how he managed to “escape” for so long.
Santos left the House before the voting concluded. Descending the steps of the House to a waiting car, Santos told reporters he was ready to turn the page on Congress.
“Why would I want to stay here?” he said. “To hell with this place.”
A debate on the House floor on Thursday (30) highlighted the absurdity of Santos’s scandals. The use of campaign funds for Botox treatments was invoked multiple times, even by those defending him. Lawmakers pointed out the fabricated connections to the Holocaust and the claims, contradicted by documents, that his mother was in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Even with new criminal charges emerging, Santos survived thanks to the efforts of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who seemed unwilling to risk losing his seat to a Democrat in a special election.
But after an ethics committee released a scathing 56-page report classifying Santos’s candidacy as a fraud he exploited for personal gain, the political tide for the young Republican began to shift.
The issues addressed by the ethics report significantly overlap with the criminal charges Santos faces. Investigators found “substantial evidence” that Santos violated federal law. He has pleaded not guilty and refused to resign.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul must now schedule a special election to fill the vacancy left by Santos.
Santos is only the sixth member of the House to be expelled in the history of the chamber. Three representatives were ousted in 1861 on charges of treason at the onset of the Civil War. Two others were convicted in a criminal court before being expelled, one in 1980 and the most recent in 2002.
Source: The New York Times