House Preps Historic Expulsion of George Santos Despite No Criminal Conviction

The House of Representatives appears ready to expel Rep. George Santos (R-NY) as soon as this week in contravention of precedent to first allow Santos his day in court.

Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), chairman of the House Ethics Committee which recently released a report on its investigation into Santos, introduced a resolution before the Thanksgiving break that would expel Santos.

“The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Committee’s Investigative Subcommittee investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment, and the most appropriate punishment is expulsion,” Guest said.

Guest did not introduce his resolution as a privileged motion, however he or one of his colleagues could do so this week, which would give the House two legislative days to address it.

RELATED: George Santos Snaps at Media After Making Appearance to Support Trump — “You Guys Make it Unbearable”

Brendan Gutenschwager via Storyful

In a wild three-hour Twitter/X Space November 24, Santos acknowledged he is all but assured to be booted, and called upon Guest to force a vote on the resolution, chastising him to “be a man and stop being a p****.”

Santos announced a November 30 press conference before Thanksgiving break, insisting he will not resign but will not seek reelection.

The scathing report issued by the Ethics Committee included evidence Santos knowingly filed false reports with the Federal Election Commission, used campaign funds for personal purposes including subscriptions to OnlyFans and botox treatments, and willfully violated ethics laws as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House.

The committee’s ten members, five Republicans and Democrats each, voted unanimously to refer to the Department of Justice their findings.

Yet no court has convicted Santos, who argues he is being treated unfairly.

Only five members of the House have been expelled, the most recent being the 2002 expulsion of Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH).

Traficant was accused of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, forcing his congressional staff to perform chores on taxpayer dime, and even racketeering, and was eventually convicted of ten felonies.

But Traficant continued to serve while under indictment, and was not expelled by the House until after his conviction.

Before Traficant, the most recent House member to be expelled was Rep. Michael Myers (D-PA) in 1980. Myers was expelled after being videotaped taking a bribe from undercover FBI agents in the infamous ABSCAM scandal dramatized in the 2013 film American Hustle.

Santos survived an expulsion vote earlier in November prior to the release of the Ethics Committee’s findings. But the report’s release gives members political cover to change their votes, an outcome even Santos considers a fait accompli.

Then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), operating under a slim majority, quelled an earlier attempt to boot Santos by referring the matter to the committee.

But despite precedent, time is quickly running out for Santos, and the Republican majority will be reduced, providing yet more headache for new Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as another government funding deadline approaches in January.