US House defeats move to expel Republican George Santos

A vote to expel Republican lawmaker George Santos from the US House of Representatives failed on Wednesday when fewer than two-thirds of the chamber supported the resolution, preserving Republicans’ narrow 221-212 majority.

The 35-year-old New York lawmaker has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of crimes including laundering funds to pay for his personal expenses, illegally receiving unemployment benefits and charging donors’ credit cards without their consent.

The former treasurer for Mr Santos’ campaign pleaded guilty on October 5th to a conspiracy charge for inflating fundraising numbers.

“I must warn my colleagues that voting for expulsion at this point would circumvent the judicial system’s right to due process that I’m entitled to and desanctify the long-held premise that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Mr Santos said before the vote.

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[ Democrats in US Congress seek to deny George Santos access to classified data ]

[ Republican leadership needs George Santos despite wire fraud and money laundering charges ]

Expulsion of a lawmaker requires a vote by two-thirds of the chamber. Only five people have been expelled from the House in the country’s history, three for fighting against the U.S. government in the Civil War.

Mr Santos represents a small slice of New York City and parts of its eastern suburbs. Non-partisan election forecasters said Democrats could have recaptured the seat.

Republican lawmakers from Mr Santos’ state of New York said last month they would introduce a resolution to expel Santos, but the move was delayed by weeks when the House was leaderless following the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Republicans on October 25th elected Mike Johnson, who has said he did not support expelling Santos for being charged with a crime, to succeed McCarthy.

Mr Santos has been ensnared in controversy since shortly after winning election last year, when he was accused of fabricating much of his biography on the campaign trail.

“Mr. Santos is a stain on this institution and not fit to serve his constituents in the House of Representatives,” Anthony D'Esposito, one of the Republican lawmakers behind the resolution, said on the House floor.

A trial for Mr Santos is scheduled for September 9th, 2024, shortly before the elections that will determine control of the White House and both congressional chambers.

The House Ethics Committee has also said it is looking into allegations involving Mr Santos. The investigative subcommittee contacted 40 witnesses, reviewed more than 170,000 pages of documents and authorised 37 subpoenas, the committee said.

The ethics panel said it would announce its next steps by November 17th.

Separately on Wednesday, the House, in a bipartisan 222-186 vote on Wednesday, defeated a resolution to censure US Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib after she spoke at a rally that called for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the resolution on October 26th, accusing Ms Tlaib of “anti-Semitic activity, sympathising with terrorist organisations, and leading an insurrection at the US Capitol Complex.”

Ms Greene’s resolution referred to a peaceful demonstration in a House office building, during which hundreds of protesters were arrested. Ms Tlaib did not participate in that demonstration.

Ms Tlaib in a statement called the resolution “deeply Islamophobic”.

Ms Greene drew bipartisan condemnation in 2021 after she compared masks to fight the spread of Covid with the badges that Nazi Germany forced Jewish people to wear during the Holocaust. – Reuters