New York Republicans will force a vote on the expulsion of Rep. George Santos (R-NY) next week, just days after Mike Johnson‘s (R-LA) election as speaker.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), flanked by Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), the House majority whip, and fellow New York freshmen, introduced a resolution on Thursday to expel Santos, who faces 23 federal charges including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
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The resolution is privileged, meaning House leadership has until next Friday to call a vote. Santos, who is loathed by his New York colleagues, faced an expulsion push in May, but the House instead referred the matter to the Ethics Committee, which has been investigating him since March.
At the time, D’Esposito and his colleagues voted for that motion, expecting the panel to conclude its work by the August recess, but that date came and went with no resolution. He introduced the measure on Oct. 11, shortly after federal prosecutors added 10 new charges against Santos, but had to wait until this week given the removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker.
“We would have done this two weeks ago if we weren’t in the situation that we were in,” D’Esposito, speaking to reporters alongside Reps. Nick LaLota (R-NY) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), each elected in purple districts last year, said.
House leadership could move to table the resolution — with a four-vote majority, Republicans cannot afford to lose any seats — but D’Esposito, who has four New York Republicans co-sponsoring with him, signaled they would vote against tabling.
“We plan on voting on a resolution to expel George Santos,” D’Esposito said.
For that expulsion to be successful, it will take a two-thirds vote of the House. All Democrats are expected to vote in favor; the real challenge will be getting a third of Republicans to join them.
LaLota predicted the effort would be successful. “There seems to be a good sentiment out there that enough is enough,” he said, citing the guilty plea of Santos’s campaign treasurer earlier this month.
But many of his Republican colleagues are reticent to expel him without a conviction. Others believe the issue is best addressed by voters next year.
“I’ve always said, look, whether it’s going to be at the ballot box, or convicted in a court of law, that his days here are numbered,” said Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a New York Republican who introduced a resolution to expel another home state colleague, Democrat Jamaal Bowman, for pulling a fire alarm last month.
The Santos resolution comes barely a day into Johnson’s speakership — he was sworn in Wednesday afternoon. LaLota says he and his colleagues considered that before taking the step but ultimately decided it could not wait.
“The speaker’s had a day to bask in some glow of getting elected. It’s apparently a very difficult process in this town to get elected speaker,” he quipped, “but nevertheless, it’s never the wrong time to do the right thing. And we need to clean up this Santos mess for Long Island, for New York, and for the House of Representatives.”
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The lawmakers did speak beforehand with Johnson, who conveyed to them, “Do what’s right, and do what’s right for New York,” according to LaLota.
Santos responded to the expulsion push by reiterating he would not resign. “I’m entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
