The majority of Republicans and more than 30 Democrats voted against ousting Santos on Wednesday
Rep. George Santos (R., N.Y.), who faces federal fraud charges tied to his 2022 campaign, survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House.
The resolution failed to gain the required two-thirds vote, with most Republicans and more than 30 Democrats voting against ousting Santos. The final vote was 179 for expulsion and 213 against.
In an unexpected move ahead of the vote, the Long Island congressman yielded a few minutes of his floor time to fellow New York Rep. Dan Goldman (D). Goldman, who called for his ousting in May alongside other House Democrats, reiterated his support of the resolution to expel Santos from Congress.
“I co-sponsored a similar expulsion resolution that the sponsors of today’s resolution, my colleagues — my Republican colleagues from New York, did not support,” said Goldman Wednesday. “I agree with everything that my Republican colleagues have said here today. But everything they have said here today was also true in May, when they voted to protect George Santos.”
Last month, Santos was slapped with a 23-count superseding indictment in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The congressman was charged with conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making materially false statements to the United States House of Representatives that were charged in the original indictment.
In May, Santos was arrested and originally charged with 13 criminal counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and lying to Congress. He pleaded not guilty on all 13 charges.
Multiple people have alleged that Santos’ prolific scamming included credit card fraud, donation theft, and potential campaign finance violations.