House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back the vote to expel Rep. George Santos until Friday after lawmakers from both parties forced the chamber to take up the matter.
The floor debate on Mr. Santos’ fate will begin Thursday.
Shortly after his election in 2020, Mr. Santos was discovered to have lied to voters about almost everything about his life and his qualifications.
The House Ethics recently released a bruising report that found “substantial evidence” of criminal wrongdoing related to his campaign. The report changed the minds of dozens of lawmakers who previously voted to save Mr. Santos from expulsion.
He also faces 23 federal charges for wire fraud, theft of public funds and money laundering, among others.
Mr. Santos has vowed to not resign from Congress but has said he won’t seek reelection. He said that if he resigned, “They win.”
He remained defiant Thursday, promising to file a “slew of complaints” against members and the House Ethics Committee.
Mr. Santos said the committee’s report was “littered with opinion and hyperbole.”
Addressing a crowd of journalists and cameras at a press conference in front of the Capitol, Mr. Santos said that attempts to expel him are thinly veiled attempts to get him to resign.
“So the reality of it is, it’s all theater,” Mr. Santos said. “Theater for the cameras and microphones for the American people.”
Only five members of Congress have been expelled from the institution: three for being a part of the Confederacy during the Civil War, and two who had been convicted before getting the boot.
Mr. Santos argued that he would be the only member expelled without a conviction or without committing treason to be booted from Congress if the third attempt to oust him is successful.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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