Santos scandal consumes Congress
Trailed constantly by shouting reporters, Rep. George Santos has become one of the most watched first-term congressmen in history.
The New York Republican's every word is parsed. His preppy sartorial selections are analyzed.
Three weeks after Santos, 34, a serial liar, was sworn in to represent a section of Long Island and a sliver of eastern Queens, the circus around him has hardly diminished.
And bipartisan frustration is growing among many of Santos’ colleagues, who see him as an embarrassing distraction at best, and a danger to their institution
at worst.
“We’re sick and tired of being asked about him,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican, said. “The focus should be on tackling inflation, securing our border and addressing crime.”
A majority of New York’s GOP delegation in the House has called on Santos to resign.
Republican leadership seems disinclined to push Santos out, given their party’s slim majority in the House and the risk that Democrats could flip his swing district in a special election.
GOP leaders gave Santos seats on the Small Business Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, a signal they do not intend to cut him.
Early this month, Santos helped get Rep. Kevin Mccarthy of California over the hump in his nail-biting, five-day bid to become House speaker.
“The operating principle of House Republican leadership is not ethics. It’s politics,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, said. “Kevin Mccarthy needs every vote he can get. And he needs George Santos to remain in power.”
But Santos, Torres said, cannot be trusted, including access to classified records as a House member, and oversight of fraud in the sprawling Paycheck Protection Program as a member of the Small Business Committee.
Two powerful New York Democrats, Reps. Gregory Meeks and Joe Morelle, sent a letter to Mccarthy on Wednesday asking him to prevent Santos from receiving classified information.
“No one poses a greater threat to the integrity of Congress than George Santos,” Torres said. “And he’s a distraction from what should be the serious business of Congress.”