'Clean Up Your House,' Dems Tell GOP Leadership After George Santos Saga
As members of his home state's GOP demanded that gay Republican Rep. George Santos resign and then declared him persona non grata in their circles, Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy declined to join them and instead chose to stand by the embattled congressman.
Meanwhile, Democrats who believe Santos's days are numbered, are calling on Republicans to act.After McCarthy said on Wednesday that he was not going to ask Santos to resign and that he supported his placement on committees, it became clear that, for now, Santos might be here to stay.Fellow lawmakers say that little can be done to remove Santos from Congress if he refuses to leave short of a vote of the entire body.The Constitution states, "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member." That means 290 members would have to vote to expel Santos in order to remove him from office.
Assuming all 212 House Democrats would vote unitedly to remove Santos, they would need at least 78 House Republicans to join in expelling him.However, House Republican leadership does have options to sideline the embattled congressman, which would make him ineffective as a lawmaker.Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep.
Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, who is gay, tells The Advocate that the New York Republican is already an outcast in his caucus."I believe he currently is already sidelined in that if you looked at last week on the floor, he was probably America's loneliest person sitting there," says Pocan.
