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Dec 1, 2023 · The House voted Friday to expel New York GOP Rep. George Santos over ethics violations, making him only the sixth lawmaker ever to be kicked out of the chamber.
Dec 2, 2023 · By KEVIN FREKING. Updated 7:55 PM PDT, December 1, 2023. WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted on Friday to expel Republican Rep. George Santos of New York after a blistering ethics report on his conduct heightened lawmakers’ concerns about the scandal-plagued freshman.
Dec 1, 2023 · Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images. The House has voted to expel New York Republican Rep. George Santos over ethics violations, making him only the sixth lawmaker ever to be kicked out of the...
Dec 1, 2023 · George Santos, the New York Republican congressman whose tapestry of lies and schemes made him a figure of national ridicule and the subject of a 23-count federal indictment, was expelled...
- Overview
- The allegations against Santos
- The effort to expel Santos
Washington — The House on Friday voted to expel embattled Republican Rep. George Santos from Congress, bringing an end to a tumultuous tenure in Washington that was defined by scandal from the start.
In their third attempt to oust him since May, House lawmakers voted 311 to 114 in favor of the expulsion resolution, including 105 Republicans who voted for it. Two Democrats voted against expelling Santos. Two members voted present, and eight members did not vote. The resolution required a two-thirds majority to pass. Santos left the House chamber during the vote.
•Who voted to expel George Santos? Here's the count on the House expulsion resolution
"The clerk will notify the governor of the state of New York of the action of the House," Speaker Mike Johnson announced from the House dais. "The chair announces that in light of the expulsion of the gentleman from New York, Mr. Santos, the whole number of the House is 434."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said on social media following the vote that she is prepared to "undertake the solemn responsibility of filling the vacancy" arising from Santos' removal, adding, "the people of Long Island deserve nothing less." Under state law, she has up to 10 days to call a special election for the seat, and it must be set for within 70 to 80 days from the governor's order.
By Friday afternoon, the locks on the doors to Santos' congressional office had been changed and his House website removed. A sign outside of his former office now reads "Office of the Third Congressional District of New York."
Santos' surprise victory in the 2022 midterm elections helped Republicans capture control of the House, but he quickly became an embarrassment for the party when he was found to have fabricated or exaggerated large portions of his biography.
He also attracted the attention of federal investigators, who charged him with fraud, money laundering and other crimes in May. The scope of the case expanded in October, when he was hit with more charges accusing him of stealing his campaign donors' identities and racking up thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on their credit cards, falsifying campaign finance reports, money laundering and more. He has pleaded not guilty to all 23 federal charges he now faces.
The Ethics Committee began its own investigation in the spring, and on Nov. 16 released a scathing 56-page report that detailed a broad array of alleged misconduct. According to investigators, Santos allegedly stole money from his campaign, reported fictitious loans, deceived donors and engaged in fraudulent business dealings.
The situation, the report said, "is unprecedented in many respects."
"While it is not uncommon for Committee investigations to involve multiple allegations and a pattern of misconduct, the sheer scope of the violations at issue here is highly unusual and damning," it said.
According to the report, Santos funneled large sums of money through his campaign and businesses to pay for his personal expenses. Investigators said he used the funds to pay for Botox injections and make purchases at high-end stores like Hermès and Ferragamo. They said he used campaign money to make payments on the adult website OnlyFans, and for meals, parking, travel and rent. He also allegedly diverted money to pay down his personal credit cards.
The third attempt to expel Santos came just weeks after he survived a second effort to oust him from Congress.
In May, Santos withstood his first expulsion attempt, when Democrats sought to remove him from Congress after he was first charged. Republicans blocked that effort and instead referred the matter to the Ethics Committee.
Five GOP lawmakers from the Empire State — all facing competitive races next year — renewed the effort to expel him in October after he was hit with more charges, calling it a "moral" issue that transcended short-term political considerations. But the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed under the Constitution to oust a member, since most Republicans and 31 Democrats withheld support for punishing him while the Ethics Committee investigation and his criminal trial proceeded.
The release of the Ethics Committee report opened the floodgates for lawmakers to embrace expelling Santos. Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, introduced a resolution to oust him before lawmakers left Washington for Thanksgiving. Once the House returned, Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, introduced a separate resolution as "privileged," meaning the House would be required to vote on it within two days.
"This forces a vote this week," Garcia told reporters Tuesday, saying he had doubts that Republicans would actually move forward with a vote on Guest's resolution.
But Republicans did move forward. GOP Rep. Anthony D'Esposito of New York brought up Guest's resolution as privileged, and a vote was scheduled for Friday.
Dec 2, 2023 · 2 December 2023. By Madeline Halpert & Sam Cabral on Capitol Hill,BBC News. Watch: George Santos' last day in office... in 85 seconds. The US House of Representatives has expelled...
Dec 1, 2023 · 18:48 1 Dec 2023. The drama of George Santos ends, for now. Brandon Livesay. US reporter. Getty Images. Less than a year after he was elected, New York Republican George Santos has been...
