House Democrat Kevin McCarthy has introduced a resolution to the House Ethics Committee, which would require a majority of the House to approve a resolution that expels Rep. George Santos from the House of Representatives. The resolution states that Santos should be expelled from Congress after he was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements.
McCarthy said he wants the Ethics Committee to “move rapidly” on its probe of Santos after Democrats tried to force a vote on the New York Rep's expulsion. The full House could act to punish or even expel Santos depending on what the committee finds.
Democrats moved on Tuesday to expel George Santos from Congress after federal prosecutors indicted him on multiple counts related offenses including wire fraud, money laundering and lying to Congress. This move is part of a political maneuver designed to force Republicans either break with Santos or publicly vote in his defense.
To succeed, a privileged resolution introduced by Robert Garcia must attract two-thirds support in the House and could come up for voting within two days. While Republicans have expressed their opinion that Santos should resign voluntarily, party leaders have not explicitly broken ties with him as yet; they insist he has an inherent right to seek acquittal while representing his district.
Only five members across history have ever been expelled from serving in the U.S. House – this potential case would add another name into this exclusive list if it were successful.
Santos recently announced plans for re-election but received no support from Kevin McCarthy regarding such aspirations.