Posted on 11/01/23
| News Source: The Hill
A Republican-led effort to oust Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from office failed on Wednesday, allowing the embattled GOP lawmaker to stay in the House despite mounting legal and political trouble.
The chamber voted 179-213-19 on a resolution to oust Santos from office, far short of the two-thirds threshold needed to expel a member of Congress. Only five lawmakers have been expelled from the House in its history, three of whom were booted for being disloyal to the Union during the Civil War.
Wednesday marked the second attempt this year to remove Santos from office. In May, the House voted to refer a Democrat-led expulsion resolution to the Ethics Committee, a decision that was largely regarded as redundant because the panel had been looking into the congressman for months.
But this week’s try — which came during the first full week of Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) tenure — was significant.
The effort was led by a group of Santos’ fellow freshman New York Republicans and it comes as he faces 23 federal charges and stares down a September 2024 trial start date.
It also comes a day after the House Ethics Committee announced it would reveal is “next course of action” in the months-long investigation by Nov. 17.