Santos Survives Expulsion Vote With Help From Dems

Embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., on trial for fraud charges, on Wednesday found improbable protectors in House Democrats, with 31 voting against a bid to expel the New York lawmaker from office.

The final vote was 213 no, 179 yes, and 19 present.

The effort to expel him from the House is part of an effort led by fellow New York Republicans who are anxious to distance themselves from a colleague infamous for fabricating his life story and accused of stealing from donors, lying to Congress, and receiving unemployment benefits he did not deserve.

To succeed, their resolution needed the support of at least two-thirds of lawmakers, meaning numerous Republican lawmakers would have to break ranks with newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who has said Santos should get his day in court.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., voted against the resolution.

"If and when Santos is convicted of these serious criminal offenses or ethics charges, I will certainly vote to expel," Raskin said. "Until then, it's a very risky road to go down, and we have to stick by due process and the rule of law, as obvious as the eventual result seems."

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, offered a similar reasoning for voting against the resolution, telling Axios the Ethics Committee "has indicated they will have something soon."

Johnson also recently told Fox News that if Congress is going to expel members because they are charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing, "that's a problem."

Santos last week pleaded not guilty to "two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of access device fraud," according to the United States Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of New York.

His trial has been set for Sept. 9, 2024, and is expected to last three weeks.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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