WASHINGTON DC – George Santos was voted out of the House of Representatives on December 1st, 2023, after an ethics committee investigation revealed that Santos spent campaign money on personal uses and lied to federal regulators about his finances. The committee investigation claims that Santos spent his own campaign money illegally on botox, Uber, hotels, and many more purchases that do not seem to have any relation to his campaign. He was also accused by a former staffer of sexual harassment, but the report found no proper evidence that he had committed a crime. Santos claims that the investigation is not true, but the House ethics investigation says that the evidence is clear. This has been the second time that the House has tried to kick Santos out of Congress. During the first vote, some Democrats did not want to take part in voting, stating that a vote should not take place before actual evidence and proof were shown.
Santos won the seat in New York’s 3rd district after a wave of Republican votes during the midterm elections for Congress. This wave of Republican votes would lead to the Democrats losing the House in 2022, but after his election, his lies began to come to light. Santos was accused of committing criminal activity in Brazil and the United States, along with lies like his mother surviving the 9/11 attacks, despite records showing she was not in the United States at the time and the claim that he worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but no records show him ever working there. Democrats hope that with the expulsion of George Santos, they will be able to slim down the Republican majority and make it harder for Republicans to pass bills that they want.
The Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, attempted to get Santos to resign, but he declined, and the vote to expel him from the house continued. 206 Democrats voted to expel him from the house, but only 110 Republicans of 222 voted to expel him in a vote of 311 to 114. Ten members of the House were present or did not vote. There have been many claims that the Republican Party is doing anything they can to hold on to power in the House, even if it means keeping a corrupt member of Congress.
A special election must now take place for the New York district to replace their representative. The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, must call a special election 10 days after his seat becomes vacant. Governor Hochul announced that the special election will take place on February 13th next year.
George Santos is only the sixth member of Congress to be voted out of office. Many said Santos should have resigned to save Congress all the time and effort. Others say that George Santos has finally been held accountable for his actions and will no longer hold an important position of power.
