New York Rep. George Santos, a Republican, was expelled by the House of Representatives today, becoming only the sixth House lawmaker in history to be removed by his colleagues.
The Friday vote, which is the third time the House has voted on Santos’ 11-month congressional career. He survived the first two votes, but this time 105 Republicans joined almost all Democrats in removing him.
“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,” an Ethics subcommittee said in a published report. Santos’ conduct “has brought severe discredit upon the House.”
“Representative George Santos cannot be trusted. At nearly every opportunity, he placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law, and ethical principles,” the report said.
Before Santos, the most recent member expelled was Rep. James Traficant of Ohio. The Democrat was kicked out of the House of Representatives in 2002 after being convicted in a bribery and racketeering; he served time in prison, during which he mounted an unsuccessful campaign to regain his seat as an independent.
Before Traficant, three members of the House were expelled in 1861 for their disloyalty to the union at the outset of the Civil War: John Bullock Clark, a member of the Whig Party; John William Reid of Missouri, a Democrat; and Henry Cornelius Burnett of Kentucky, also a Democrat. All three supported the southern confederate cause. Reid actually resigned several months before he was expelled.
