The House of Representatives voted along party lines Wednesday to refer a resolution expelling Republican New York Rep. George Santos to the Ethics Committee, temporarily killing the bid.
Democratic California Rep. Robert Garcia introduced the expulsion resolution in February, and forced the House to act on it through a privileged resolution introduced Tuesday. Republican New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito moved to kick Garcia’s proposal to the Ethics Committee, which began investigating Santos in March for campaign finance violations. (RELATED: Investigators Clear Rep. George Santos Of Sexual Harassment Allegations: REPORT)
Every Republican, including Santos himself, voted in favor of the motion. Seven Democrats voted present.
The House referred H.Res. 114 – Resolved that Rep. George Santos be and hereby is expelled from the House to the Ethics Committee by a vote of 221-204 with seven voting present.
— House Press Gallery (@HouseDailyPress) May 17, 2023
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy McCarthy reportedly met Tuesday with several House Republicans who have called on Santos to resign or be expelled. He told the members that the lower chamber would not act until the Ethics Committee and legal process have played out, according to Politico. Only two representatives, Democrats Michael “Ozzie” Myers of Pennsylvania and Jim Traficant of Ohio, have been expelled from the lower chamber since the Civil War. Both had been convicted in connection to bribery and refused to step down from their seats.
“I’m very concerned about George Santos,” McCarthy, who is not endorsing the Long Island freshman’s reelection bid, said Tuesday. “But what I firmly believe is just in the foundation of this country, we’ve got to have a process.”
“I think there’s enough information out there now that they can start looking at this,” the speaker continued. “And I think they could come back to Congress, probably faster than the court case.”
The Ethics Committee announced in March that it was looking into Santos for alleged campaign finance violations during his 2022 campaign, allegedly failing to file an accurate financial disclosure with the House, allegedly violating conflict of interest laws, and allegedly sexually harassing a prospective staffer. He has since been cleared of the sexual harassment claims.
Santos was charged on May 10 with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. He pleaded not guilty.