The House has voted to expel Republican Rep. George Santos on Friday, a historic move that hasn’t happened in more than 20 years.
It was the third attempt to expel the scandal-ridden congressman. He is just the sixth House member in history to be forcibly removed by his colleagues. House Republican leaders, though, rallied around Santos early Friday stating they would vote against the resolution.
The expulsion vote came two weeks after a scathing House Ethics Committee report detailed what investigators said was Santos’ use of campaign funds for his own personal benefit. Santos has repeatedly criticized the report as political smear, though he’s yet to refute specific allegations.
Representative George Santos walks to a series of votes including a vote to expel him from the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., Dec. 1, 2023.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
Momentum initially grew to oust Santos after the report’s publication, but then several House Republican leaders publicly said just before the vote they were opposed to the resolution.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Friday he would vote against expelling Santos.
Johnson has encouraged members to “vote their conscience” on the resolution, but expressed “real reservations” about expelling a member not yet convicted of a crime. Santos has been charged with 23 criminal counts, to which he’s pleaded not guilty. A trial is set for 2024.
“No Member of Congress has ever been expelled without a conviction; this is a dangerous precedent and I am voting no based upon my concerns regarding due process. I have said from the beginning that this process will play out in the judicial system which it currently is,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, wrote in a post to X.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said voters in Santos’ district should ultimately decide if he should remain in Congress.
“I’m against expelling Mr. Santos,” Jordan said on Newsmax.
Santos was asked Friday by ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott if he expected to be expelled.
“I don’t know,” he responded. “I think I’ve said this often already, I don’t know.”
Rep. George Santos speaks on the House floor on Nov. 30, 2023, in Washington, D.C.
Pool via ABC News
Rep. Darrell Issa told ABC News it’s a coin toss whether Santos survives.
“If I were going to handicap it, I’d give him slightly better than 50-50,” Issa predicted.
During an hour of spirited debate on the House floor Thursday, Santos continued to argue he was denied due process.
“Every member expelled in history of this institution has been convicted of crimes or Confederate turncoats guilty of treason. Neither of those apply to me, but here we are,” Santos said. “On what basis does this body feel that precedent must be changed for me? An American citizen, duly elected — elected to represent the 3rd district of New York.”
As they exited a conference meeting Friday morning, some Republicans echoed Santos’s defense that he has not been convicted and that the two most recent members to be expelled were first convicted.
“It doesn’t mean I’m claiming that he’s innocent or guilty, but that’s the way it’s always been done for the institution’s sake,” Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., said.
Republican Rep. Michael Guest, the chairman of the House Ethics Committee who also previously introduced a separate motion to expel Santos, made notably rare remarks to defend the report ahead of Friday’s vote.
“George Santos has built his persona, his personal and political life, on a foundation of lies,” Guest said.
ABC News’ Arthur Jones, Benjamin Siegel and Rachel Scott contributed to this report.
