George Santos Learns His Fate After Congress Conducts Vote on His Expulsion
In a historic — and potentially ominous — move, GOP New York Rep. George Santos was expelled from the House on Friday after he was unable to secure enough votes to stay in his current role.
The expulsion came in a commanding 311-114 vote, easily eclipsing the two-thirds majority needed to oust Santos.
A total of 206 Democrats voted in favor of expelling the congressman.
Two Democrats — Reps. Bobby Scott of Virginia and Nikema Williams of Georgia — voted present, and another two voted against the move.
Conversely, the GOP was decidedly more split on Santos’ potential ouster.
A slim majority of Republicans voted against expelling Santos, with 112 members voting against expulsion and 105 Republicans voting in favor of it.
(Five Republicans and three Democrats abstained from voting.)
According to The New York Times, Santos made the wrong kind of history with this expulsion, becoming the first sitting member of the House to be expelled without being convicted of a crime or supporting the Confederacy.
To many observers, that fact is ominous and raises the specter of a slippery slope.
Santos’ controversies and behavior soured him on the majority of his peers, and at first glance, it’s easy to see why.
The embattled now-former congressman was called out for a number of duplicitous statements and actions, highlighted by false claims of being connected to the Holocaust and the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
He also stands accused of several federal crimes, including inappropriate use of campaign funds.
The issue for many outside observers, however, stems from the fact that Santos still just stands accused of those crimes — and nothing more.
He has been convicted of nothing, no matter how damning some of these allegations may appear.
Perhaps that’s why Santos left the Capitol in quite a huff, according to the Times. “To hell with this place,” he said when asked if he would ever return to visit.
Apart from any lingering issues he will have to deal with, Santos’ removal from Congress is objectively bad news for Republicans.
His ouster puts the Republican majority in the House at 221 members.
Democrats account for 213 representatives, meaning the GOP “majority” is a razor-thin margin — making any contentious issue very difficult to push through.
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