Rep. George Santos (R-NY) looks on as the House of Representatives holds a vote on a new Speaker of the House at the US Capitol on October 18, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a resolution to expel Republican Rep. George Santos of New York over his campaign lies and criminal charges, a move that could further imperil the GOP’s slim majority in the chamber.
The resolution to remove Santos from Congress is set to come to a vote sometime after 6:30 p.m. ET.
The threshold to pass an expulsion resolution is higher than it is for other bills, requiring support from two-thirds of the voting House members.
This means that if all 212 Democrats were to vote in favor of expulsion, the measure would still need more than 70 Republicans to back it.
The scandal-plagued freshman lawmaker, 35, has pleaded not guilty to a raft of federal fraud and theft charges. He has vowed not to resign from office voluntarily.
“I’m fine and calm,” Santos wrote on X shortly before the debate. “I’ll defend myself as best I can.”
It’s not clear if the small group of Republicans leading the push to oust Santos will be able can drum up enough support from their GOP colleagues, including those leading the closely divided House.
“We have no margin for error,” newly anointed House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a Fox News interview last week. “And so, George Santos is due due process, right?”
Some polls have shown that even before his indictment, the vast majority of voters in Santos’ Long Island congressional district — including Republican voters — wanted him out of office.
Santos is currently running for reelection in 2024. He has rebuffed calls for his resignation on multiple occasions, including on the eve of his arraignment in federal court on a new batch of criminal fraud charges.
Santos faces 23 felony counts of crimes including wire fraud, credit card fraud, aggravated identity theft and falsifying records.
His criminal trial is scheduled for mid-September of 2024, less than two months before Election Day.
The House on Wednesday evening is also expected to vote on resolutions to censure two other House members.
One of them, put forward by GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, accuses Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan of promoting antisemitic messages and “sympathizing with terrorist organizations.”
The other resolution, introduced by Democratic Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont, would censure Greene for spreading various “forms of hatred.”
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.