Despite facing multiple charges, George Santosthe embattled gay Republican who admitted to lying about his backgroundeasily survived a bipartisan effort to expel him from the House of Representatives on Nov. 1, media outlets reported.
According to NBC News, the final vote did not even reach the simple majority threshold: 179 voted in favor of expulsion and 213 voted against, with 19 voting present. (Twenty-two legislators did not vote.) Thirty-one Democrats voted with 182 Republicans against expulsion, while 24 Republicans voted with 155 Democrats to remove Santos.
"I will continue to fight to defend myself. I will continue to serve the 3rd Congressional District of New York until the people choose to not have me," Santos said after the vote.
U.S. Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, R-N.Y., who authored the expulsion resolution, said that he could force another vote to expel Santos after the Ethics Committee releases its findings.
According to the U.S. House website, some of the Illinois lawmakers voting to expel Santos included Democratic Reps. Mike Quigley, Lauren Underwood, Eric Sorensen, Raja Kristnamoorthi and Jan Schakowsky. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson voted present while Brad Schneider, a member of the same party, voted against expulsion. All three Republicans (Mike Bost, Darin LaHood and Mary E. Miller) voted against Santos' expulsion. The full tally can be seen at clerk.house.gov/Votes/2023564 .
Andrew Davis