Some House Republicans Are Now Trying to Expel George Santos, Will the New Speaker Allow It?

David Becker | The Washington Post

A group of Republican Congressmen from New York are attempting to expel their disgraced colleague, George Santos, from the House of Representatives.

Congressman Anthony D’Esposito read the resolution on the House floor on Thursday, citing samples of Santos’s litany of offenses and scandals. D’Esposito concluded that Santos “is not fit to serve” in Congress.

Lawmakers must act on D’Esposito’s privileged motion within two legislative days. A two-thirds majority is required to expel Santos from the House.

Santos allies—if such people exist—could try to avoid the expulsion by moving to table D’Esposito’s measure or referring it to a committee, as was done by the GOP when Democrats attempted to expel Santos in May.

Another potential wrinkle is the newly-elected Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Johnson’s spokesperson refused to comment, but Johnson himself in a Thursday night interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity hinted he would oppose the effort—explicitly citing the impact Santos’s removal would have on the Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

In addition to making sweeping lies to his constituents about various aspects of his identity during his campaign, Santos is currently under federal indictment for 23 criminal charges, ranging from conspiracy to wire fraud to money laundering to making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.