The ongoing soap opera surrounding New York Rep. George Santos appears to be nearing some sort of conclusion.
The House Ethics Committee issued a report in which it said there was “substantial evidence” Santos broke federal law. While the Committee did not go so far as to recommend Santos' expulsion, his fellow New York Republicans are determined to use the Ethics Committee report as the basis for a second attempt to kick Santos to the curb. (RELATED: Santos Expects To Be Kicked Out Of Congress)
For his part, Santos says he will not seek reelection in 2024. That's big of him, considering his chances of running a credible race, even for the GOP nomination, are next to zero. But it hardly satisfies the party grandees back home:
“That's an insufficient response on his part,” Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar said of Santos' pledge to not run again. “He needs to be removed and needs to be removed immediately. There's absolutely no reason why he should be allowed to cast another vote.”
Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, a Long Island Republican who pushed for the first Santos expulsion vote, said in a statement the ethics panel's findings are “in alignment with my longheld belief that this fraudster has no place serving in the People's House” and should be expelled.
Expulsion is quite a rare thing on Capitol Hill. Only 20 members – 15 senators and five House members, have been kicked out. Most of those occurred in the run-up to the Civil War. The most recent expulsion came in 2002, when Ohio Democrat Jim Traficant was removed on a 420-1 vote.
But his removal only happened after Traficant was convicted on federal corruption charges.
As for the one member who voted not to expel Traficant….that's quite a story in itself:
The lone lawmaker voting against Mr. Traficant's expulsion was Representative Gary A. Condit, Democrat of California, who was defeated in a primary after he became known for a relationship with a missing intern, Chandra Ann Levy, whose remains were recently found in a Washington park.
The Congressional Research Service has a handy report on expelling members. The CRS notes that courts have given Congress a wide berth on the power to expel, leaving it to the discretion of the individual chamber. But there may be questions about whether the House or Senate can expel someone for actions that took place before they were elected.
We just might get a firm answer to that question, and others, in the very near future.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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