US House of Representatives expels Republican Santos

It is only the sixth exclusion in the history of the chamber: The US House of Representatives has thrown out Republican Santos, who was accused of fraud. The vacant seat could go to the Democrats.

The US House of Representatives has voted to expel Republican Representative George Santos. 311 of the 435 MPs voted for the exclusion and 114 voted against it. The required two-thirds majority was clearly achieved. The House Ethics Committee previously concluded in a report that Santos violated federal law and used campaign contributions for his own purposes.

Lies about the CV were exposed

The 35-year-old Republican made headlines with a series of lies about his resume. Santos claimed to have a degree from an elite university and a successful collegiate volleyball career and falsely claimed to have worked for the investment bank Goldman Sachs and the banking group Citigroup.

In May, he was indicted by the federal judiciary on charges including fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to the House of Representatives. In October, the charges were expanded to include identity theft in connection with the theft of campaign funds. The deputy pleaded not guilty in court.

Committee: Dignity of office violated

The House Ethics Committee also raised allegations against Santos. Among other things, the MP stole campaign funds and defrauded his donors, according to an investigative report published in mid-November.

Santos also tried to “blame others for much of the misconduct.” The MP’s lack of honesty is worrying. With his behavior, the politician violated “the dignity of the office” and “severely brought the House of Representatives into disrepute.”

Democrats could win vacated seat

Santos was elected to the House of Representatives for a New York constituency in last year’s midterm elections and presented himself as a supporter of former US President Donald Trump. He is only the sixth member in the history of the House of Representatives to be expelled from the legislative chamber. Three of the previous expulsions from the House of Representatives were for disloyalty to the Union during the Civil War.

Due to the exclusion, an early election must decide on the allocation of the vacant mandate. That gives President Joe Biden’s Democrats a chance to win the seat. That would further reduce the narrow majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives.