Santos forces vote to expel Squad member Bowman ahead of his own expulsion test

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Rep. George Santos is following through on his vow to force a vote to expel Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman ahead of his own expulsion vote on Friday, but the retaliatory move by the disgraced Republican lawmaker will likely be in vain.

Mr. Santos’ attempt to bring an expulsion resolution to the floor means that Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, will be required to consider the measure within two legislative days.

However, the House is expected to expel Mr. Santos on Friday. That means that his bill will die unless another lawmaker picks up the measure, according to House rules.

Mr. Santos argued that multiple attempts to boot him from Congress amounted to bullying, and warned against the precedent that could be set should the House succeed in the latest effort to remove him.

“If the House wants to start different precedents and expel me, that is going to be the undoing of a lot of members of this body,” Mr. Santos said. “Because this will haunt them in the future where mere allegations are sufficient to have members removed from office when duly elected by their people in their respective states and districts.”

Mr. Santos faces 23 federal charges for wire fraud, theft of public funds and money laundering, among others.

The lawmaker noted that Mr. Bowman, unlike himself, has pleaded guilty to a criminal violation — sounding a false fire alarm during a House vote.

Mr. Bowman, New York Democrat and a member of the House’s far-left “Squad,” pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in October. He paid a $1,000 fine, received three months of probation and was required to make a formal apology for his actions.

In response, Mr. Bowman said that “no one” takes Mr. Santos seriously.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, said that there was no basis to Mr. Santos’ attempts to force a vote to expel Mr. Bowman because the House Ethics Committee ruled that it would not investigate the lawmaker.

Mr. Jeffries questioned why Mr. Santos was “still around,” and accused House Republicans of intentionally hiding information on the lawmaker that later became public, like his extensive falsification of his background.

“Then when the information exploded into the public domain, [they] continued to coddle George Santos and play footsie with him for the better part of the year,” Mr. Jeffries said. “Why? Because House Republicans needed George Santos’ vote.”