PHOTO: Rep. George Santos, R-NY (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House voted on Friday to expel Republican Rep. George Santos of New York after a critical ethics report on his conduct that accused him of converting campaign donations for his own use. He was just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues.
The vote to expel was 311-114. Expulsion requires support from two-thirds of the House, a purposefully high bar, but a blistering House Ethics Committee report that accused Santos of breaking federal law proved decisive.
Santos fought the expulsion effort leading up to the vote, leading his own defense during House floor debate and in conducting a news conference and interviews.
“I will not stand by quietly,” Santos declared as lawmakers debated his removal the evening before the vote. “The people of the Third District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, you’re going to have to go silence those people and go take the hard vote.”
Of the previous expulsions in the House, three were for disloyalty to the Union during the Civil War. The remaining two occurred after the lawmakers were convicted of crimes in federal court.
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