GOP Reps. debate who gets to force a vote on Santos’ expulsion, and the winner is…

GOP Rep. George Santos faces expulsion from Congress by the end of this week after not one but two Representatives forced motions of privilege to kick him out: Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia and then Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito.

Yesterday, Garcia was the first to introduce a “privileged” resolution to expel Santos. This means lawmakers must debate the resolution within two working legislative days.

Garcia’s move came after the damning House Ethics Committee report into Santos’s lies and behavior. The Chair of the Ethics Committee, Michael Guest (R), introduced his own resolution to expel Santos just before the Thanksgiving break.

Garcia says he introduced his privileged resolution because he wants Santos expelled sooner rather than later. He says he was unsure if Republicans would force Guest’s resolution through quickly.

Well, his answer came later yesterday when Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), called Guest’s resolution to the floor as a privileged motion. Again, this means lawmakers have two days to vote on it.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito chosen to force vote on Santos

Shortly before D’Esposito introduced the expulsion measure, House Speaker Mike Johnson was seen in a huddle with Republican Reps. within the chamber.

Was Johnson trying to talk them out of it? Apparently not. According to The Hill, Rep. Nick Lakota (R-N.Y.) said afterward that the group was “deliberating over who was to make it privileged.”

Lakota says Johnson was “leading the consensus that it made sense for Mr. D’Esposito” to do the deed.

Santos has survived two expulsion votes in the past. However, the last one came a couple of weeks before the Ethics Committee issued its report. Some lawmakers voted to keep him in the house, saying they wanted to read the report first. They have subsequently indicated they will now vote him out.

Santos himself has said that he doesn’t expect to survive a further expulsion vote. In a Spaces talk on X last Friday he said, “I know I’m going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor,” he said. “I’ve done the math over and over, and it doesn’t look really good.”

Santos defiant

If Santos is expelled, he’ll become only the sixth Representative booted out by colleagues in the history of the House. Three of the others were kicked out in the 1860s for supporting the Confederate rebellion.

Yesterday, Santos, the first out-gay Republican elected to the House, remained defiant and refuses to resign. He said other lawmakers were expelled from Congress only after being found guilty of a crime in a court of law.

Santos faces 23 charges relating to wire fraud and identity theft. His trial is set for September 2024.

He says that to expel him before his trial would set a dangerous precedent.

Talking to reporters, he dared his colleagues to go ahead and do it anyway, telling them to “put up or shut up.”

Rep. George Santos (R-NY): "Put up or shut up at this point." pic.twitter.com/SxCgKo69Jm

— CSPAN (@cspan) November 28, 2023

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