311 votes in favor, 114 votes against… 105 Republicans voted in favor
False suspicions regarding graduation from a prestigious university and work history at a famous company
The U.S. House of Representatives expelled Republican New York lawmaker George Santos, who was suspected of falsifying his career.
According to the Associated Press on the 1st (local time), the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill to expel Rep. Santos with 311 votes in favor and 114 against in a plenary vote on this day. A two-thirds vote in favor is required to expel a member.
Republican leaders opposed the motion, saying that if Rep. Santos was expelled, it would be far short of a majority, but in the end, the expulsion bill was passed with 105 Republican lawmakers in favor.
Rep. Santos left the plenary room during the vote.
Representative Santos, born in 1988, is a first-term lawmaker who was elected as a member of the New York State 3rd Congressional District in the midterm election last November.
Representative Santos, a Brazilian immigrant, received particular attention as the first Republican member to be elected after revealing that he was a sexual minority. He even introduced himself as ‘the perfect epitome of the American dream.’
However, soon suspicions arose that Rep. Santos had falsified his university degree and work experience.
At the time of the election, Rep. Santos introduced himself as having graduated from Baruch College in New York and worked on Wall Street, including Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but the New York Times reported last year that all of this history was false.
Additional suspicions arose that he misappropriated election funds for personal use or sexually harassed an intern at a congressman’s office. Rep. Santos was handed over to trial on these charges last May.
Afterwards, the Democratic Party attempted to expel Rep. Santos, but failed each time, and succeeded in passing the expel motion after the third attempt. The House Ethics Committee’s report released two weeks ago was said to be critical in that it said there was “substantial evidence” that Santos had repeatedly violated the law.
This is the sixth time in history that the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill to expel a member.
With Representative Santos’ expulsion, the total number of members of the House of Representatives increased to 434.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.