U.S. Congressman George Santos (R-NY) was expelled from the House of Representatives on December 1st in a historic vote after the House Ethics Committee released a report against him.

The report alleged that Santos “blatantly stole from his campaign” by tricking donors into using campaign funds for his “personal benefit,” including luxury designer products and credit card payments.

This is the 6th time a member of Congress has been expelled, surpassing the two-thirds majority vote needed for expulsion in a 311-114 vote.

The vast majority of the Democrats voted in favor of the motion (206 out of 213), while a little less than half of Santos’s own party, the Republicans, voted to oust him (105 out of 222).

Notably, while the other 5 representatives were expelled for either committing a federal crime or supporting the Confederacy, Santos was expelled before he was convicted of his alleged crimes.

Republican House Leadership was mostly opposed to the vote, given that Santos technically had not been convicted of a crime in a court of law.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson expressed his reservations by calling the vote “a regrettable day,” as it went against his beliefs in the rule of law and due process.

Expulsion is not the only legal woe of the Long Island ex-Congressman, as he faces 23 federal charges.

According to the Department of Justice, Santos has pleaded not guilty to allegations including identity theft, wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

Furthermore, Santos has made some statements of dubious verity throughout his campaign, such as claiming that his Catholic mother was Jewish and that she died during the September 11 attacks (despite immigration records showing that she was not even in the country).

In response, Santos claimed that he was merely guilty of “embellishing his resume.”

Other embellishments of his resume include claims of being a graduate from Baruch, a New York public college, and a career with Wall Street groups such as Citibank or Goldman Sachs.

He later admitted that these statements were untrue.

Following this bombshell vote, Santos angrily expressed his thoughts to the public, declaring, “Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place.”

Santos’s absence leaves the issue of who will take his seat in the House of Representatives.

The U.S. Constitution states, “When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.”

Put simply, the governor of the state that the representative is from is responsible for holding special elections to replace them.

In this case, that would be New York governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY), who has stated on X that she will “undertake the solemn responsibility of filling the vacancy in New York’s 3rd District.”

In the meantime, the Republicans are a man down in their razor-thin majority over the Democrats in the House of Representatives.

Formerly 222-213, the margin has shifted from 9 votes to 8 votes, with the current demographics being 221 Republicans and 213 Democrats.

Paul Han

Grade 11

Saint Paul Preparatory Seoul