So, Republicans finally decided to draw a line in the sand. After two previously failed attempts, on Friday, December 3rd nearly half of the Republican House delegation voted to expel New York's 3rd Congressional District Representative, George Santos from Congress. After receiving the House Ethics Committee report finding substantial evidence of wrongdoing, the House voted 311 to 114 to expel him; well above the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution.
Santos refused to resign although he admitted that he "embellished" much of his resume. Texas Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro stated that Santos had lied about almost every aspect of his life and that he should either resign or be expelled from Congress. The House Ethics Committee report found the congressman violated federal law and engaged in a "complex web" of illegal activity concerning his finances. Democrats Robert Garcia and Dan Goldman filed the resolution that resulted in Santos's expulsion. New York Republican Anthony D'Esposito offered his own motion to force a vote on the expulsion.
Historically Santos becomes the 21st member of Congress to be expelled. Previously there were 15 expulsions from the Senate and five from the House. Most were related to the Support of the Confederacy. In 2002 Ohio Representative James Traficant was expelled after conviction on 10 felony counts that included taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his congressional staff to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington, D.C. He served a seven-year prison sentence for his infractions. It remains to be seen whether Santos will be convicted of criminal charges.
It is not as though House Republicans were unaware of Santos' challenges before his election. However, many of Santos' alleged misdeeds were hidden from the voters before he won the seat.
So how was he able to survive two previous votes to expel him? It was all about maintaining power. In the final vote, only two Democrats voted against the resolution to expel Santos yet 112 Republicans voted to allow him to keep his seat. The GOP voting against his expulsion would like us to believe the vote was based upon their desire to let the people of his district decide in the next election. However, Santos was important to the Republican's razor-thin majority, and losing his seat may jeopardize any future legislation they plan to pass or block. Furthermore, his district is a swing district, and there is no guarantee that the electorate will send another Republican to replace him.
I am not sure what was the final straw that made a plurality of Republicans decide to vote to remove this demonstrably flawed politician from Congress. Republican House leadership voted to save Santos to avoid winnowing their party's slim House majority. They were joined by the hard-right conservative caucus to hold on to Santos, while moderate and mainstream conservatives took the opportunity to distance themselves from the serial liar. There is no reason Santos should have ever been seated, but at least now we know that there are some lines that many partisan Republicans will not cross, even if only for their own survival.
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