Rep. George Santos is facing a new push for his expulsion from Congress over his serial lying.
The New York Republican was targeted Thursday by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who unveiled a measure to boot Santos from the House.
New York Democratic Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman also joined as sponsors of the bill, which the lawmakers said will be referred to the Ethics Committee.
A group of House Democrats, led by Robert Garcia, are pushing a resolution to expel George Santos from Congress.
— POLITICO (@politico) February 9, 2023
But, it won't be so easy: The resolution, now headed to the House Ethics Committee, could take quite a while to process. https://t.co/L5cVEYNpmr pic.twitter.com/RQX87hOGYn
The measure is a long shot because GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy would likely need to allow a vote and it would require a two-thirds majority vote to pass.
Garcia, an openly gay first-term lawmaker like Santos, planned an afternoon news conference on Capitol Hill to unveil the details of his planned proposal.
Santos braved the wrath of dozens of his constituents who held a rally demanding his ouster earlier this week.
He insists he won’t step down despite the rising calls for his resignation or expulsion as nearly every day brings a new scandal.
Santos sparred with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, Tuesday after the GOP elder statesman told him he didn’t belong in Congress before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
On Wednesday, Santos said “it wasn’t very Mormon” of Romney to snipe at him.
Santos has already lost the support of several Republican colleagues in the New York delegation who fear he is a major distraction from their agenda after retaking control of the House.
But expulsion is historically a very high bar in the absence of serious criminal charges, with representatives normally preferring to pressure scandal-tarred colleagues to resign.
Santos, 34, portrayed himself as a trailblazing gay conservative son of immigrants en route to an upset victory in a Democratic-leaning district.
He was later exposed for lying about virtually all aspects of his life and background. State and federal authorities are investigating various alleged wrongdoing including campaign finance discrepancies.
McCarthy has mostly stood by Santos, in part because he needs every vote he can get in the nearly evenly split House.
