A House Democratic lawmaker has raised a privileged resolution to expel disgraced Rep. George Santos — and New York Republicans say go for it.
New York GOP sources say that getting rid of Mr. Santos now and triggering a special election would help them retain the seat for the state’s 3rd Congressional District on Long Island. They don’t care if he leaves the House by expulsion or resignation.
“If he resigns and it’s a special election, we have a shot. If it’s during the general election, it gets much harder,” a New York GOP insider told The Washington Times. “In a special [election], there’s no primary so all resources go to one candidate and we have a strong organization in Nassau County.”
The non-partisan Cook Political Report currently rates the district as a D+2, meaning the district performed an average of two points more Democratic than the nation did as a whole in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
One benefit the Republicans see in a special election scenario is that the state parties get to choose their candidates for the election so all the fundraising goes towards that candidate. In a general election, money is also spent during the primary.
Mr. Santos has already announced his run for reelection, and Democrats and Republicans have begun recruiting other candidates for the seat.
Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat who co-sponsored the expulsion resolution, said he has not spoken to New York Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs about the post-expulsion political considerations.
“This is not about political gamesmanship. That happens much too often in Congress,” he said. “The reality is that every day George Santos is in Congress, it’s not only a blight on the Republican Party, it is a blight on the institution of Congress.”
The privileged resolution to expel Mr. Santos was raised Tuesday by Rep. Robert Garcia, California Democrat.
Mr. Santos was charged in New York last week with fraud and money-laundering crimes related to campaign donations.
The resolution has 48 co-sponsors, none of whom are Republicans, who control a slim majority in the chamber.
House rules allow a lawmaker to bring a privileged resolution for the expulsion of a member, which forces a vote in the chamber over the objections of the majority leadership.
With unanimous support from his fellow Democrats, Mr. Garcia would need at least 77 Republican votes to pass his resolution.
The House has expelled only two members in recent decades: Rep. Michael J. “Ozzie” Myers, Pennsylvania Democrat, in 1980 and Rep. James Traficant, Ohio Democrat, in 2002. Both votes occurred after the lawmakers had been convicted on federal charges.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, is expected to refer the resolution to the Ethics Committee, which would require a majority of the House to approve. That would allow GOP lawmakers to avoid voting on expelling Mr. Santos.
McCarthy said that the House may act to punish or expel the New York Republican depending on what the Ethics Committee concludes.
“I think we can look at this very quickly and come to a conclusion on what George Santos did and did not do through ethics, a safe bipartisan committee,” Mr. McCarthy said. “I would like the Ethics Committee to move rapidly on this.”
Source:Washington Times
