Santos survives House expulsion vote

(The Center Square) — Embattled New York Congressman George Santos has survived a Republican-led effort to expel him from the House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, the House voted down a resolution seeking to expel the first-term GOP lawmaker who is facing a litany of federal charges, including claims that he inflated campaign finance reports and used his donors’ credit cards without authorization.

The resolution was rejected by 179-213, with 19 lawmakers not voting, falling short of the two-thirds threshold needed to expel a member of Congress.

Santos survived the challenge — the second effort this year to expel him — with help from 31 House Democrats, who voted with 182 Republicans to keep him in Congress, according to a roll call. None of them were from New York.

The push to oust Santos is being shepherded by a group of freshman New York Republicans — led by Rep. Anthony D’Esposito — following his indictment on Tuesday in federal court on 23 counts of fraud, including money laundering and identity theft.

Federal prosecutors in New York allege that Santos and his former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, submitted false financial reports to the Federal Election Commission, inflating his fundraising numbers. They also allege he fraudulently collected over $24,000 in unemployment insurance benefits.

An indictment filed in May against Santos charged him with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his income, among other allegations.

The House Ethics Committee, created a special subcommittee to investigate the claims, announced earlier this week that it will be releasing the results of its inquiry into “unlawful activity” during Santo’s 2022 congressional campaign by Nov. 17. The panel could recommend censure or his expulsion from office, or take no action.

Santos also faces a Federal Elections Commission complaint alleging his campaign engaged in a “straw donor scheme” to conceal the sources of a $705,000 personal loan to his campaign.

To be sure, Santos has refused to resign even as members of his party have called him to step down. In April, he filed paperwork to run for reelection. He has admitted to faking his resume and lying about his educational background but claims he hasn’t broken the law or crossed any ethical lines.

In a statement following Wednesday’s vote on the expulsion resolution, Santos called the outcome a “victory for due process” and the rights of the accused.

“This was never about me, and I’ll never let it become about me,” he posted on X. “We all have rights under this great Constitutional Republic and I’ll fight for our right to uphold them till my last dying breath.”