The US House of Representatives voted on Friday (Dec 1) to expel embattled Republican Rep. George Santos, in their third attempt since May.
The proposal to remove him was approved by a vote of 311 to 114, with at least 105 Republicans voting against him and two Democrats voting in favor. A two-thirds majority was required to pass the resolution.
Who will take over for George Santos now?
Following George Santos’ departure from the House, the most pressing question is who will take his place in New York‘s third congressional district.
In New York, a special election must be held within 90 days. Local party leaders from both the Democratic and Republican parties will now field candidates to replace Santos in a House that is razor-thinly divided, with Republicans leading Democrats by only eight seats.
Accusations leveled against George Santos
Santos’ tumultuous tenure, which was riddled with scandals and allegations from the start, came to an end on Friday.
His victory in the 2022 elections came as a huge surprise to the Democrats, but it quickly turned into an embarrassment for the Republicans as he was found to have exaggerated and embellished his profile to better suit his election campaign.
He was also charged with fraud and money laundering in May of this year. Santos was charged with additional crimes in October, including stealing his campaign donors’ identities and racking up thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on their credit cards, falsifying campaign finance reports, money laundering, and other offenses.
He was arrested on 23 federal charges in total and has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
This spring, the Ethics Committee launched an investigation into the unprecedented charges leveled against a sitting Congressman. The committee’s detailed 56-page report, released on November 16, was the final nail in Santos’ coffin.
Santos was found to have stolen money from his campaign, deceived donors, and engaged in fraudulent business dealings, according to the investigation.
“While it is not uncommon for Committee investigations to involve multiple allegations and a pattern of misconduct, the sheer scope of the violations at issue here is highly unusual and damning,” the report said.
‘Spent donor funds on porn websites’
The Ethics Committee also discovered that he spent campaign funds on adult influencer sites such as OnlyFans, as well as on meals, parking, travel, and rent.
Santos “sustained all of this through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background and experience,” the report said, adding that “his misrepresentations and lack of transparency have continued during his tenure in Congress.”
Investigators say Santos also ignored warnings about inconsistencies in his campaign’s bookkeeping.
Nancy Marks, his campaign’s ex-treasurer, pleaded guilty in October to a scheme to falsify his campaign finance reports.
Past controversy
Earlier this year, a major controversy erupted after it was revealed that Santos had competed in Brazilian beauty pageants as a drag queen 15 years ago.
According to Reuters, a 58-year-old Brazilian performer who goes by the drag name Eula Rochard befriended the now-ex-congressman when he was cross-dressing in 2005 at the first gay pride parade in Niteroi, a Rio de Janeiro suburb.
Santos reacted to these reports by saying that the claims were “categorically false,” adding: “I will not be distracted nor fazed by this.”
George Santos is still defending himself
Santos says he will not run for re-election, but he maintains his innocence. He also accused his colleagues of rushing to expel him even though he had not been convicted of any of the alleged crimes.
“It is a predetermined necessity for some members in this body to engage in this smear campaign to destroy me. I will not stand by quietly,” he said on the House floor on Thursday. “They want me out of this body. The people of the 3rd District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, they have to go silence those people.”
Previous attempts to depose him
The expulsion on Friday was the result of the third attempt by House lawmakers to remove George Santos. It was, however, the first attempt since the Ethics Committee report was released two weeks ago.
Santos survived his first expulsion attempt in May, when Democrats attempted to remove him from Congress after he was first charged. Republicans thwarted that effort, instead referring it to the Ethics Committee.
After he was charged with new crimes in October, efforts to remove him resurfaced.
However, the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution to remove a member because most Republicans and 31 Democrats opposed punishing him while the Ethics Committee investigation was still ongoing.
As a result of his expulsion from the House, Santos’ criminal trial is set to begin on September 9.