George Santos faces third expulsion resolution after scathing House Ethics report

WASHINGTON – Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., chair of the House Ethics Committee, introduced an expulsion resolution against the indicted Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., in lawmakers’ third attempt to remove the embattled Long Island Republican from the House.

Guest’s resolution, filed Friday morning, comes after his committee released a damning much-awaited report finding Santos sought to exploit his campaign for his personal financial benefit and concluding there is “substantial evidence” that Santos broke federal law. 

“The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Committee’s Investigative Subcommittee investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment, is expulsion. So, separate from the Committee process and my role as Chairman, I have filed an expulsion resolution,” Guest said in a statement.

The House could take up the resolution for a vote as early as Nov. 28, when the lower chamber returns from its Thanksgiving break. 

Santos snapped back Thursday evening in a lengthy post on X, formerly Twitter, after the House Ethics Committee released its report. The lawmaker said the committee's actions were “not part of due process” and accused the committee of influencing the jury pool in a Department of Justice investigation.

“This was a dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights,” he said.

Santos will hold a press conference at the Capitol on Nov. 30, two days after lawmakers return from Thanksgiving break.

“I will continue to fight for what I believe in and I will never back down,” he wrote in the post.

Santos has survived two previous expulsion attempts, but Guest’s resolution appears to be gaining serious traction among members who were previously unsupportive of removing Santos from the House after the Ethics Committee’s scathing report.

House Democrats led the first efforts to expel Santos from the House, but Republicans referred the resolution to the Ethics Committee in May. The committee was already investigating Santos at the time, having opened its probe in March.

Santos’ fellow New York Republicans, a faction of moderate and vulnerable members heading into the 2024 elections, led the second expulsion efforts against him earlier this month, but that push fell short due to most members voting against expulsion, deferring to the Ethics Committee to release its report first before delivering their judgment.