Rep. George Santos will face expulsion again this week and predicts he'll be ousted

WASHINGTON — House lawmakerstook steps Tuesday to force a vote to expel indicted Rep. George Santos , R-N.Y., from Congress this week — the second time this month he will face an expulsion vote .

Santos, who admitted to lying about his background and has pleaded not guilty to multiple federal charges, easily survived a vote to oust him on Nov. 1. But he predicts he will be removed from office this time around.

Many lawmakers who voted against expulsion now say they will support it following the release of a damning Ethics Committee report on Santosjust before the Thanksgiving recess.

A supermajority vote, or two-thirds, is required to expel a member from Congress.

Shortly after the 56-page Santos report was issued, House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., introduced a resolution to expel the embattled congressman. As lawmakers returned to Washington on Tuesday night, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito — one of several New York Republicans who've been leading the charge to oust their freshman colleague — stipulated on the House floor that the Guest resolution was now "privileged."

That means GOP leadership must bring it to the floor for a vote within two legislative days.

"He lied his way here. He's a fraud. And the quicker we can rid him of this institution, the better," D'Esposito told reporters outside the Capitol. "I think his days are numbered."

The resolution could be tabled or referred to a committee before it gets a floor vote. Guest told reporters Tuesday that he had coordinated with the New York delegation to ensure that they could participate in the effort to remove Santos. He said he didn't know if it would pass but called supporting it "the right thing to do."

"Every member will have to vote their conscience," Guest said. "If you look at the content of the 50-plus-page ethics report, along with a pending federal indictment, I think that there's clearly, at least in my mind as a former prosecutor, enough evidence at this point to expel Mr. Santos from Congress."

Guest added that GOP leadership has not taken a position on the expulsion resolution.

Earlier in the day, Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California filed a competing privileged expulsion resolution in a bid to pressure Republicans to punish Santos. But because Republicans control the chamber, it's expected the GOP resolution authored by Guest will be brought to the floor first.

In May, Garcia tried to force a vote on a similar resolution to expel Santos, but the House voted to refer it to the Ethics Committee instead, triggering a monthslong congressional investigation into Santos.

“We’re calling on Mike Johnson, the speaker, to come out and tell his members that he's going to support the expulsion,” Garcia told reporters earlier Tuesday.

He was joined on the floor by Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who serves in the New York delegation with Santos.

“We’re tired of waiting. We’re tired of the games that Republicans have played to protect George Santos and their slim majority,” Goldman said. “And it’s time to put up or shut up.”

The blistering Ethics report on Santos concluded that he had deceived his donors, knowingly filed false campaign finance statements and used his campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, including rent, trips, luxury items, cosmetic treatments like Botox and a subscription to the adult content site OnlyFans .