House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) indicated to reporters Wednesday that he has no immediate plans to take action against Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who has acknowledged lying about key parts of his background and drawn calls for his resignation from fellow Republicans in New York.
“In America today, you’re innocent until proven guilty, so just because somebody doesn’t like the press you have, it’s not me that can oversay what the voters say,” McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol. “The voters are the power. The voters made a decision, and he has a right to serve. If there is something that rises to the occasion that he did something wrong, then we’ll deal with that at that time.”
Two Democrats in the New York congressional delegation filed an ethics complaint against Santos on Tuesday. It is not known whether the House Ethics Committee will act on the complaint. McCarthy suggested that the committee is the appropriate place for Santos’s colleagues to take their concerns.
McCarthy also suggested that voters would have an opportunity to remove Santos in two years if they chose to do so.
“In America today, you’re innocent until proven guilty, so just because somebody doesn’t like the press you have, it’s not me that can oversay what the voters say,” McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol. “The voters are the power. The voters made a decision, and he has a right to serve. If there is something that rises to the occasion that he did something wrong, then we’ll deal with that at that time.”
Two Democrats in the New York congressional delegation filed an ethics complaint against Santos on Tuesday. It is not known whether the House Ethics Committee will act on the complaint. McCarthy suggested that the committee is the appropriate place for Santos’s colleagues to take their concerns.
McCarthy also suggested that voters would have an opportunity to remove Santos in two years if they chose to do so.