US Congressman George Santos wants to give up his two committee posts, at least for the time being. The US media reported unanimously, citing party colleagues to whom he informed the Republicans in a non-public faction meeting. The reason is the ongoing discussions about his fake CV. “He just felt like there was so much drama about the situation,” Republican Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene told CNN after the meeting. Santos did not initially confirm the plans.
The 34-year-old was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in the US congressional elections in November. The newspaper New York Times then took a close look at Santos’ CV. For example, he claimed to have been a “seasoned Wall Street investor” and worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. It turned out that Santos was never employed by the companies mentioned.
The newspaper was also unable to verify his university degree. Alleged real estate possessions could not be found. Santos has also been accused of misleading the public about his family history and alleged Jewish background. In an interview, the Republican admitted that he had “whitewashed” his resume.
Two-thirds of his constituents in the Queens constituency in New York regret voting for him, according to a poll published by the Bloomberg news agency. According to the survey, almost 80 percent of those polled in the constituency were in favor of him resigning from his seat in parliament. Santos himself continued to be combative on Twitter last week.
The deputy is now also in the sights of the judiciary. The New York prosecutor’s office began investigating in December. According to media reports, the Ministry of Justice is also keeping an eye on Santos because of his campaign financing. Recently, a number of Republicans had demanded that Santos give up his seat as a deputy – but he had previously ruled that out. The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, emphasized that he wanted to regulate the Santos case internally. According to New York Times he agreed to suspend Santos from the committees for the time being.
Santos’ resignation would be tricky for Republicans in the House of Representatives. In the congressional elections, they regained a majority in the congress chamber – but only by a hair’s breadth. Should Santos resign, there would have to be a new election in his constituency. It couldn’t be ruled out that the Democrats would win the seat and the Republican majority would melt away.