Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed his reservations about expelling Rep. George Santos from the House, despite growing GOP support for his ousting. This comes after the release of a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee earlier this month, which found that Santos “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”
Santos has survived previous attempts to remove him from the House but is facing a renewed push for expulsion as a result of the ethics report. However, Johnson and other Republicans have raised concerns about the lack of a criminal conviction against Santos and have emphasized the need for due process. If expelled, Santos would be the first House member to be ousted without having been convicted or having supported the Confederacy.
The vote on the expulsion resolution is scheduled for Friday, with 18 Republicans indicating that they will vote in favor of expulsion. However, some members of the conference still have reservations about expelling a member before they have been convicted of a felony.
Republican Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois is leaning toward voting for expulsion, but he expressed his preference for Santos to resign. On the other hand, Rep. Roger Williams of Texas is leaning against voting to expel Santos, citing reservations about removing a fellow member.
Others, like Rep. Ralph Norman and Rep. Victoria Spartz, have voiced their opposition to expelling Santos, highlighting the lack of criminal conviction and concerns about how the House Ethics Committee conducted the investigation. Spartz emphasized the need for a serious review of the report to avoid setting a serious precedent.
The debate over Santos’s expulsion presents a leadership test for Speaker Mike Johnson, who is now navigating differing opinions within the GOP conference. As the House prepares for the vote, the decision on whether to expel Santos raises ethical and due process considerations within the Republican Party.