Washington [US], October 27: A group of US Republican congressmen from New York is taking action to expel colleague George Santos from the House of Representatives amid his indictment on many charges.
Rep. George Santos , who only took office for his first term in January, was indicted in October on charges of making false statements, identity theft and credit card fraud. According to Reuters, Mr. Santos was accused of using the credit cards of those who sponsored him without their consent. In May, he was also prosecuted for the same crime but pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.
On October 26, Republican Congressman Anthony D'Esposito, representing several other colleagues from New York, proposed that the House of Representatives consider expelling Mr. Santos. "Mr. George Santos is not fit to serve his constituents as an American congressman," Mr. D'Esposito declared.
According to regulations, the House of Representatives must process Mr. D'Esposito's proposal within 2 working days. However, the House of Representatives is on vacation and will only return to work on November 1. To be passed, the proposal must have the support of 2/3 of the members of the House of Representatives, equivalent to 290 votes. Democratic lawmakers have repeatedly called for Mr. Santos to be expelled.
Before being prosecuted, Mr. Santos was faced with other charges such as falsifying information in his resume. The Republican Party holds a narrow majority in the House of Representatives with 221 seats compared to 212 seats for the Democratic Party, so the party leadership has not yet taken action against the congressman. It is unclear how new House Speaker Mike Johnson will handle this issue. He may postpone consideration of the matter or refer the proposal to a committee.
In May, a Democratic congressman proposed voting to expel Mr. Santos, but the House of Representatives eventually referred the proposal to the Ethics Committee. Mr. D'Esposito said that he had heard that the above-mentioned committee would close its investigation report in the near future.
In a statement on social network "a predetermined outcome as some are looking for".
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper