George Santos’s messy expulsion vote, briefly explained

Author: Editors Desk Source: Vox

December 1, 2023 at 20:47

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) walks back to his office after debate on the House floor on a resolution to expel him from Congress, at the US Capitol, on November 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The scandal-plagued Congress member has finally reached the end of the line.

Li Zhou is a politics reporter at Vox, where she covers Congress and elections. Previously, she was a tech policy reporter at Politico and an editorial fellow at the Atlantic.

On Friday, scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos (R-NY) officially became the sixth-ever lawmaker to be expelled from the House. Santos’s expulsion followed two previous failed expulsion votes, significant scrutiny of the lies he’s told about his work and personal history, a federal indictment, and a scathing investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

In the end, the House voted 311-114 to expel Santos, with 105 Republicans and 206 Democrats voting in favor of removing him. Two Democrats and 112 Republicans voted against removing him, while two other Democrats voted present.

One big thing that tipped some lawmakers over the edge — and offered Republicans cover to support Santos’s expulsion — was the eight-month investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which was released in mid-November. That report found “substantial evidence” that Santos broke federal law and that he “fraudulently exploit[ed] every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”

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