House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday expressed “real reservations” about a motion to expel embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) and said that lawmakers would be free to “vote their conscience” during a floor vote expected Thursday.
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“We’ve not whipped the vote, and we wouldn’t,” Johnson told reporters. “I trust that people will make that decision thoughtfully and in good faith. I personally have real reservations about doing this. I’m concerned about a precedent that may be set for that.”
Johnson said that GOP lawmakers had shared opinions “on both sides” regarding expelling Santos during a Republican conference meeting earlier Wednesday. Santos survived two previous expulsion efforts. The latest follows a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee that found “substantial evidence” that the freshman lawmaker knowingly violated ethics guidelines, House rules and criminal laws.
Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds vote by members.
If removed by the House, Santos would only be the sixth lawmaker to be expelled from the House in U.S. history — and the first lawmaker to be removed in such a manner in modern times without having been convicted of a crime.
“There are people who say you have to uphold the rule of law and allow for someone to be convicted in a criminal court before this tough penalty would be exacted on someone,” Johnson said. “There are others who say, well, upholding the rule of law requires us to take this step now, because of some of the things that he’s alleged to have done.”
Johnson said allowing lawmakers to vote their conscience was “the only appropriate thing” GOP leadership could do.
11 of the most scathing allegations in the House ethics report about Santos
It was a fellow Republican, House Ethics Committee chairman Michael Guest (Miss.), who introduced the motion to expel Santos that will be considered Thursday. Guest filed the motion before lawmakers left for a Thanksgiving break. On Tuesday night, another Republican, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (N.Y.), motioned to move Guest’s resolution under privilege, meaning it would have to be considered within 48 hours.
By filing the expulsion motion himself, Guest added credibility to the resolution after lawmakers were hesitant about voting to expel Santos earlier this month when the question was brought forth by fellow New York Republicans. That effort failed, with 182 Republicans and 31 Democrats voting against it, fearing that it would establish a precedent to oust lawmakers without due process.
A defiant Santos has long denied wrongdoing and continued to insist that he would never resign. Santos told reporters Tuesday that he had spoken with Johnson over the weekend, but that the House speaker had not encouraged him to resign.
“All these members are pushing this. They want me to resign because they don’t want to take this tough vote that sets the precedent to their own demise in the future. Because they’re not immune from all the nonsense that goes on in Washington,” Santos said. “My message to them is 'either put out or shut up’ and enough of this charade.”
The Ethics Committee report, which was published Nov. 16, accused Santos of — among other things — stealing money from his campaign, deceiving donors about how contributions would be used, creating fictitious loans and engaging in fraudulent business dealings. Santos, the report alleged, repeatedly used funds intended for his campaign for personal enrichment, including spa charges and paying down his own credit card debt.
The long-awaited report laid out the conclusions of the committee’s months-long investigation in scathing language. According to the committee, investigators compiled more than 170,000 pages of documents and testimony from dozens of witnesses, including financial statements, to reach its conclusions.
“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit. He blatantly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit,” the report stated.
The New York Republican also faces 23 federal charges, including fraud, money laundering, falsifying records and aggravated identity theft.
Keeping up with politics is easy with The 5-Minute Fix Newsletter, in your inbox weekdays.
“We’ve not whipped the vote, and we wouldn’t,” Johnson told reporters. “I trust that people will make that decision thoughtfully and in good faith. I personally have real reservations about doing this. I’m concerned about a precedent that may be set for that.”
Johnson said that GOP lawmakers had shared opinions “on both sides” regarding expelling Santos during a Republican conference meeting earlier Wednesday. Santos survived two previous expulsion efforts. The latest follows a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee that found “substantial evidence” that the freshman lawmaker knowingly violated ethics guidelines, House rules and criminal laws.
Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds vote by members.
If removed by the House, Santos would only be the sixth lawmaker to be expelled from the House in U.S. history — and the first lawmaker to be removed in such a manner in modern times without having been convicted of a crime.
“There are people who say you have to uphold the rule of law and allow for someone to be convicted in a criminal court before this tough penalty would be exacted on someone,” Johnson said. “There are others who say, well, upholding the rule of law requires us to take this step now, because of some of the things that he’s alleged to have done.”
Johnson said allowing lawmakers to vote their conscience was “the only appropriate thing” GOP leadership could do.
11 of the most scathing allegations in the House ethics report about Santos
It was a fellow Republican, House Ethics Committee chairman Michael Guest (Miss.), who introduced the motion to expel Santos that will be considered Thursday. Guest filed the motion before lawmakers left for a Thanksgiving break. On Tuesday night, another Republican, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (N.Y.), motioned to move Guest’s resolution under privilege, meaning it would have to be considered within 48 hours.
By filing the expulsion motion himself, Guest added credibility to the resolution after lawmakers were hesitant about voting to expel Santos earlier this month when the question was brought forth by fellow New York Republicans. That effort failed, with 182 Republicans and 31 Democrats voting against it, fearing that it would establish a precedent to oust lawmakers without due process.
A defiant Santos has long denied wrongdoing and continued to insist that he would never resign. Santos told reporters Tuesday that he had spoken with Johnson over the weekend, but that the House speaker had not encouraged him to resign.
“All these members are pushing this. They want me to resign because they don’t want to take this tough vote that sets the precedent to their own demise in the future. Because they’re not immune from all the nonsense that goes on in Washington,” Santos said. “My message to them is 'either put out or shut up’ and enough of this charade.”
The Ethics Committee report, which was published Nov. 16, accused Santos of — among other things — stealing money from his campaign, deceiving donors about how contributions would be used, creating fictitious loans and engaging in fraudulent business dealings. Santos, the report alleged, repeatedly used funds intended for his campaign for personal enrichment, including spa charges and paying down his own credit card debt.
The long-awaited report laid out the conclusions of the committee’s months-long investigation in scathing language. According to the committee, investigators compiled more than 170,000 pages of documents and testimony from dozens of witnesses, including financial statements, to reach its conclusions.
“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit. He blatantly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit,” the report stated.
The New York Republican also faces 23 federal charges, including fraud, money laundering, falsifying records and aggravated identity theft.
