Washington — A New York Republican moved forward with an effort to expel Rep. George Santos from Congress on Thursday, a day before the indicted congressman is expected to plead not guilty to additional federal charges.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito introduced the resolution to expel Santos as privileged, meaning the House must consider the measure within two legislative days.
Under the Constitution, expulsion requires a two-thirds vote in favor. Only five members have been expelled from the House since 1861.
D’Esposito and several other New York Republicans announced their intent to expel Santos earlier this month after he was hit with several additional federal charges that accuse him of stealing his campaign donors’ identities and credit card information to make unauthorized charges to his financial benefit. The superseding indictment also alleges he falsified campaign finance reports to hit fundraising benchmarks and bolster his campaign.
Santos is set to appear in court on Friday for his arraignment in the superseding indictment.
The new charges renewed the efforts to expel Santos after House Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt in May. At the time, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy argued that the legal process should be allowed to play out and the matter was referred to the House Ethics Committee to conduct an investigation.
Earlier this year, Santos pleaded not guilty to charges that included an alleged scheme to defraud prospective supporters of his 2022 campaign.
He has vehemently denied any wrongdoing as the charges have piled up and has been defiant amid calls for him to resign.
After the expulsion resolution was introduced, Santos posted on social media that he still has no plans to step down.
“I’m entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking,” he said.
Thanks for reading CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for more features.
