- House Democrats are likely to force a vote on censuring Rep. George Santos in the next 2 weeks.
- With Santos refusing to resign, it's the latest effort to tie his cloud of scandal to the rest of the GOP.
Rep. George Santos has continued to remain in Congress despite a 13-count federal indictment, condemnations from many of his Republican colleagues, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's expressed wishes that he not seek re-election, and the revelations of lies about his background and ethical conduct that triggered it all.
So Democrats, eager to tie the rest of the Republican Party to Santos' cloud of scandal, are taking advantage.
House Democrats are set to introduce a resolution on Monday to censure the New York Republican, and intend to force a vote on the matter in the next two weeks. The news was first reported by the New York Times.
Below is a copy of the resolution, obtained by Insider, which is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York.
By introducing the resolution, Democrats are essentially forcing Republicans to go on record about Santos' conduct — primarily the myriad lies he told to get elected, as well as his failure to file an accurate financial disclosure.
Perhaps in a nod to the ridiculous nature of Santos' fabrications, the resolution even notes that the congressman "falsely claimed he obtained a volleyball scholarship to his college."
In a tweet, Santos characterized the effort as "political ping-pong," arguing his office is "hard at work" while offering little comment on the substance of the resolution.
—Rep. George Santos (@RepSantosNY03) July 17, 2023
While a previous effort to expel the congressman was quashed by Republican leadership, this effort stands a greater chance of passing. Many Republicans, particularly a group of freshman from New York, have strongly condemned Santos and have called on him to design.
While many of them justified voting against the expulsion resolution by arguing that the House Ethics Committee's investigation must reach a conclusion first, the censure measure has little bearing on the ethics process, and some New York Republicans may even see it as politically advantageous to join with Democrats in censuring Santos.
The likely censure vote — which would be forced via a "privileged motion" that hard-right House Republicans have increasingly used in recent weeks — comes just weeks after Democrats Rep. Adam Schiff of California was censured by Republicans for his handling of the Trump-Russia investigation.
In that case, Democrats uniformly rejected the validity of the resolution, and even rallied around Schiff as he presented himself in the well of the House. And it likely contributed to a blockbuster fundraising quarter for the congressman, who's now running for US Senate.
But given Santos' poor reputation among his Republican colleagues, it's unlikely the congressman would receive the same groundswell of support.
—Acyn (@Acyn) June 21, 2023