PUSH TO BOOT SANTOS
Longshot bid offered by Calif. pol would rid House of ‘deep rot’
Rep. George Santos is facing a new push for his expulsion from Congress over his serial lying.
The Long Island Republican was targeted Thursday by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who along with New York Democrats Rep. Ritchie Torres and Rep. Dan Goldman unveiled a measure to boot Santos from the House
“This is a con man who does not belong in Congress, and he needs to go,” Goldman said. “We will have an up or down vote on whether or not George Santos, a serial fraudster, belongs as a member of Congress.”
Torres, who has engaged in weeks of verbal jousting with Santos, admitted being “obsessed” with ousting him.
“He is a deep rot at the very core of the United States Congress,” Torres said. “Only 535 have the high honor of serving in the United States Congress. One of those people should not be George Santos. Period.”
The measure is a long shot because GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would likely need to allow a vote unless some Republicans join in a rare legislative work-around.
It would then require a two-thirds majority vote to expel Santos, a move that would force a special election in which Democrats would be favored to retake the seat.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he hadn’t seen the bill and doesn’t know if he will support it. But he left little doubt about his feelings for Santos.
“George Santos is a complete and utter and total fraud and that fraud was perpetrated on the American people,” Jeffries said.
Santos braved the wrath of dozens of his constituents who held a rally demanding his ouster earlier this week.
He insists he won’t step down despite the rising calls for his resignation or expulsion as nearly every day brings a new scandal.
Santos sparred with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) Tuesday after the GOP elder statesman told him he didn’t belong in Congress before President Biden’s State of the Union address.
On Wednesday, Santos said “it wasn’t very Mormon” of Romney to snipe at him.
Santos has already lost the support of several Republican colleagues in the New York delegation who fear he is a major distraction from their agenda after retaking control of the House.
But expulsion is historically a very high bar in the absence of serious criminal charges, with representatives normally preferring to pressure scandal-tarred colleagues to resign.
Santos, 34, portrayed himself as a trailblazing gay conservative son of immigrants en route to an upset victory in a Democratic-leaning district.
He was later exposed for lying about virtually all aspects of his life and background. State and federal authorities are investigating various alleged wrongdoing including campaign finance discrepancies.
McCarthy has mostly stood by Santos, in part because he needs every vote he can get in the nearly evenly split House.