Can't get rid of Santos without 2/3 House vote

                                                                                      

George Santos

Nassau Republicans, as predicted, are expected to call Wednesday for the resignation of 3rd District GOP Congressman George Santos because of lying about his background and possibly fraudulent reporting and spending of his campaign funds.

See news alert.

A collective call for Santos resignation was expected as soon as he voted for U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy for speaker. Santos voted last week.

It will takes one issue away from Nassau and State Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs, who has needled his Republican counterparts for not demanding Santos' ouster. 

Jacobs -- and other Democrats -- called for Santos to resign as soon as the New York Times three weeks ago reported that Santos had lied on his public resume.

Santos, who was always a sketchy candidate, soundly defeated Democratic commentator and public relations executive Robert Zimmeran for the open 3rd District seat last November.

But it is unlikely that Santos will resign as he collects his $174,000 in salary along with more than $1 million in allocations for travel, office expenses and staff.

And it appears that there is not much anyone can do about it, even if Santos is eventually convicted as a result of many criminal investigations underway into his activities.

According to legal citations the only way to force out a sitting member of Congress is for two-thirds of the House to vote to expel him.

See below:

Article I, Section 5, of the United States Constitution provides that "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member." 

According to Congressional Research Service reports: "While there are no specific grounds for an expulsion expressed in the Constitution, expulsion actions in both the House and the Senate have generally concerned cases of perceived disloyalty to the United States, or the conviction of a criminal statutory offense which involved abuse of one’s official position. Each house has broad authority as to the grounds, nature, timing, and procedure for an expulsion of a Member"

It also notes that the Constitution does not provide any mechanism for voters to recall a member of Congress.

Given McCarthy's slim House majority, it seems unlikely he would want to chance expelling a representative who will vote with him and the other Republicans. His replacement, at this point, would probably be a Democrat.

We will have to see.

But don't you think Santos already researched this?

The okay signal does seem an alternative for a middle-finger gesture.

                                                                    

George Santos being sworn in as Congressman (Pat Benic/UPI/shutterstock)