The House on Wednesday killed a measure to expel Rep. George Santos, the embattled New York Republican who faces 23 federal counts including wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds.
The House on Wednesday killed a measure to expel Rep. George Santos, the embattled New York Republican who faces 23 federal counts including wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds.
The rare move to expel a member of Congress requires a two-thirds majority vote. Lawmakers voted 213 to 179 against throwing out the freshman lawmaker.
Mr. Santos survived thanks to 182 Republicans and 31 Democrats, many of whom argued he had not been convicted of any crimes.
The effort to expel Mr. Santos was led by a handful of New York Republican lawmakers: Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Brandon Williams, Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota and Marc Molinaro. Their expulsion resolution declared that “George Santos is not fit to serve.”
It cites the criminal charges pending against Mr. Santos, his admitted 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.”
Mr. Santos, who has routinely said he deserves his day in court, argued on the House floor ahead of the vote that it would be unprecedented for the House to remove a lawmaker who was not convicted of a crime.
