House Expels Santos In Historic Bipartisan Vote; Only Third Expulsion Since the Civil War

George Santos, the beleaguered New York Republican who is accused of fabricating much of his life story and resume and is under a 23-count indictment, was expelled from Congress in a historic, bipartisan vote.

Summary

George Santos, the beleaguered New York Republican who is accused of fabricating much of his life story and resume and is under a 23-count indictment, was expelled from Congress in a historic, bipartisan vote.

• Santos began the 118th Congress as the first openly LGBT Republican elected to the House, and ended his congressional career as the first Republican to be expelled.
• The House voted 314 to 114 to remove the New York Republican, with nearly all Democrats and more than 100 Republicans providing the necessary two-thirds majority needed to give him the boot. 
• Now out of a job, Santos still faces a daunting federal indictment on charges including wire fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations. He also allegedly spent thousands of dollars of campaign money on Botox, luxury goods and subscriptions on the pornography site OnlyFans.
• Santos is just the sixth member of Congress to be expelled, and the first to be expelled without a criminal conviction since the Civil War. The most recent member of Congress to be expelled before Santos was Rep. Jim Traficant, who was kicked out in 2002 shortly after his conviction on bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion charges.
• Three Democrats – John Reid, John Clark, and Henry Burnett – were expelled in 1861 for supporting the rebellion. No member of Congress would face expulsion until Democratic Rep. Ozzie Myers, who was kicked out in 1980 after being convicted on bribery charges.

• The New York Times published a breakdown on how every member of Congress voted on the Santos expulsion. Two Democrats, Reps. Robert Scott and Nikema Williams, voted against expulsion, while two others – Reps. Al Green and Jonathan Jackson – voted present. 
• According to NBC News, the victims of Santos’ fraud aren’t just his constituents – one Republican member of Congress claims Santos defrauded him and his mother. Rep. Max Miller sent a letter to his colleagues where he said the Santos campaign “had charged my personal credit card — and the personal card of my Mother — for contribution amounts that exceeded FEC limits. Neither my Mother nor I approved these charges or were aware of them.”
• Axios explored who could replace Santos in the upcoming special election. Former Rep. Tom Suozzi, Santos’ predecessor, is mounting a comeback bid and is considered the likely Democratic nominee. Former state Sen. Anna Kaplan and Robert Zimmerman, who lost to Santos in 2022, could also run under the blue banner. (See below for the Republicans)

• National Review profiled Mike Sapraicone, the retired NYPD detective who appears to be emerging as the GOP frontrunner to replace Santos. Sapraicone built a private security firm after retiring from the NYPD and is expected to partially self-fund his campaign. The nominee will be selected by New York Republican leaders.
• The New York Post noted “Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ), the son of the indicted Democratic senator, voted to expel Santos. The elder Menendez has similarly refused to resign in the face of federal corruption charges. But Santos’ fellow New York Republicans, who had previously pushed for his removal following the House ethics inquiry, argued it was time for the body to set ‘a new precedent’ for expulsions based on rule violations rather than felony convictions.”
• The Wall Street Journal observed, “While almost all Democrats and many Republicans supported the move to expel Santos, more than half of GOP lawmakers—including Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and other members of party leadership—said he shouldn’t be expelled before his criminal case had been resolved as it would set a bad precedent. Another consideration for GOP lawmakers was that Santos’s expulsion narrows Republicans’ thin majority ahead of contentious votes on issues including Ukraine aid, border policy and the advancement of an impeachment probe of President Biden.”

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© Dominic Moore, 2023