House Republicans from New York moved Thursday to force a vote on whether to expel their embattled and indicted colleague George Santos from Congress.
The privileged resolution offered by Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., means the House must vote on the resolution within two legislative days. A two-thirds majority vote would be needed to expel Santos, R-N.Y., who's scheduled to be arraigned Friday on a superseding indictment in his federal fraud case.
D'Esposito read the resolution, which says that "George Santos is not fit to serve" as a congressman, on the House floor late Thursday afternoon.
It includes references to the pending criminal charges against Santos, his acknowledged lies about his background and his "history of misrepresenting his and his family’s connections to major events, including the Holocaust, Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, and the Pulse nightclub shooting."
Santos posted a defiant message on X shortly after the resolution was introduced while not explicitly referring to it.
"I'm not resigning," he wrote, adding that "I’m entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking."
D'Esposito and other New York Republicans announced their plans to introduce the resolution after the latest charges were filed against Santos this month but were unable to proceed because of the lack of a speaker.
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., said they waited until the day after Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., was elected speaker to proceed out of "deference" and to give him a day to "bask in the glow" of his win, but he added: "It’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. And we need to clean up the Santos mess for Long Island, for New York and for the House of Representatives."
D'Esposito said that he had spoken to Johnson about the resolution and that Johnson said to "do what you think is right and do what’s right for your district."
The 23-count superseding indictment alleges that Santos committed identity theft, fraud and other offenses. Santos, who was first indicted in May, has said he plans to fight the charges. He pleaded not guilty in the original 13-count indictment earlier this year.
House Democrats first moved to expel Santos after he was initially charged, but Republicans voted to refer their motion to the Ethics Committee, which has been investigating him since March.
Santos came under scrutiny late last year before he was even sworn in after The New York Times published a bombshell investigation indicating that much of his résumé was made up or exaggerated.
LaLota said the new charges against Santos and a separate guilty plea from his former campaign treasurer admitting they conspired to defraud donors had helped him make up his mind about expulsion, and he predicted they'd be able to hit the two-thirds mark.
"There seems to be a good sentiment out there that enough is enough," he said.
