WASHINGTON — Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., was ousted by his colleagues Friday, ending an almost yearlong congressional career.
While his fabricated resume, federal indictment and chaotic energy in the House have been well-chronicled, his actual work on Capitol Hill hasn’t gotten as much attention. So what did the Republican do during his 328 days in office representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District?
An NBC News analysis of Santos’ legislative record shows that he introduced 40 bills or resolutions during his short career; that’s roughly average for a member of Congress, according to Brookings Institution statistics. The House did not act on any of them, and all died in committee without a vote.
What’s more unusual is that Santos convinced only one of his colleagues to sign on to any of his 40 bills — Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., who backed Santos’ “Defund the CCP on Campus Act of 2023” (referring to the Chinese Communist Party).
Although he didn’t earn the backing of his colleagues on the bulk of his legislation, most of it was aimed at prominent conservative issues such as immigration and the border, stripping funding from the IRS, “draining the swamp” and one bill apparently trolling President Joe Biden, the Executive Mental Competency Protection Act of 2023.
China was by far the biggest focus for the freshman lawmaker; 12 of his bills explicitly targeted the country. He also introduced a constitutional amendment to limit pay for members of Congress and reduce the national debt, though that didn’t get traction either.
Two of his bills were named for pop stars: the Securing Women’s Independence For Today Act of 2023, named for Taylor Swift, and a measure targeting vaccine mandates named for Nicki Minaj. (TMZ reported that Minaj liked a tweet about the bill).
Santos did pass two amendments to other pieces of legislation — one targeting vaccines and the other re-establishing a Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office within Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But neither of the bills the amendments were attached to have become law.
The New York Republican didn’t serve on any committees. Though he was originally named to two smaller, less influential panels — the Small Business Committee and the Science, Space and Tech Committee — he recused himself from those posts not long after entering Congress because of the Ethics Committee’s investigation into him.
Santos did sign on as a co-sponsor for 152 of his colleagues’ bills. Only one of them became law, however, an act creating a commemorative coin to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps.
