Bipartisanship isn’t dead, but George Santos’ political career is
Principled, bipartisanship apparently isn’t quite dead in Washington D.C., despite what you might read. Weeks ago, over 100 congressional Republicans took an unusual—but welcomed—stand. They voted to oust one of their own conference members from Congress—embattled George Santos. Nearly all congressional Democrats joined with them in an incredibly rare proceeding. Together, they represented the requisite two-thirds of Congress needed to expel Santos effective immediately. Santos responded, “Why would I want to stay here? To [expletive] with this place.”
Santos is just the sixth person in American history to suffer this ignominious fate. The others include three congressmen, who fought for the Confederacy, and lost their seats via an expulsion vote in 1861. The two others occurred in 1980 and 2002 after being accused of serious crimes. They were both convicted.
Elected in November 2022 to New York’s Third Congressional District, Republican Santos has long been mired in controversy. “Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is a serial fabulist who has compiled a long list of untruths about his education, work, religion and even his athletic ability,” The Washington Post remarked.
As the paper noted, Santos claimed his mother died in the Sept. 11 attacks even though she perished in 2016; he claimed to have worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, although both companies state that they have no record of his employment; and he said he received a graduate degree from New York University. He didn’t.
He has a bizarre history of making suspicious claims that can be easily fact-checked. While these should have created concern, Congress booted him from their ranks for other reasons. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a 23-count indictment charging Santos with a host of crimes, including wire fraud, identity theft, access device fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, etc. Santos pleaded not guilty to federal charges earlier this year and was released on a $500,000 bond.
Meanwhile, the House Committee on Ethics opened their own investigation of Santos, and their findings were nothing short of damning. The committee members similarly accused him of engaging in fraud, deceiving donors and stealing campaign funds. “Among the bills footed by campaign donors: trips to the casinos in Atlantic City and the Hamptons; purchases at the French fashion house Hermès; regular cosmetic treatments labeled ‘Botox’ on internal campaign records; and even small purchases on OnlyFans, a platform best known for allowing creators to sell explicit photos and videos to subscribers,” according to the New York Times.
Santos clapped back to the report and wrote, “If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the ‘Ethics committee’, they would have not released this biased report. The Committee went to extraordinary lengths to smear myself and my legal team about me not being forthcoming (My legal bills suggest otherwise). It is a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk. Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice (sic) should all be ashamed of themselves.”
Despite his audacious defiance, many Republican and Democrat lawmakers began clamoring for an expulsion vote given all of the mounting evidence, but not all Republicans supported Santos’ ousting. Some holdouts argued that they shouldn’t expel members until they are convicted of serious crimes, and Santos is only accused at the moment. To his credit, Speaker Mike Johnson personally opposed the ouster but allowed the House to vote on the measure anyway.
In the end, the evidence was too strong for most members of Congress. 105 Republicans, including five Georgians, voted to strip Santos of his office. This is notable too. The House GOP holds a narrow majority. Losing even a single member risks their ability to promote their agenda, and retaining control of Santos’ district is far from a given. Biden won the district in 2020. These Republicans decided that it is more important to stand on principle, even if that means imperiling the GOP’s tenuous hold on the House.
Regardless of where you fall on the George Santos debate, seeing members of Congress favoring integrity over the expediency of fortifying a GOP majority is encouraging, as is bipartisanship. However, George Santos may not ride off quietly into the sunset. “Santos said on social media he hasn’t ruled out seeking public office again, albeit outside of New York,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote. “Asked where he might end up, Santos said he and his husband love the north Georgia mountains.” If that quote doesn’t make Georgians shutter, then I don’t know what will.