Calls for the resignation of Congressman George Santos (R-NY) continue to ring throughout the U.S. Capitol as congressional members on both sides of the political aisle are demanding the disgraced politician step down.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) held a press conference Wednesday morning to discuss his efforts to expel Santos from Congress.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“Representative George Santos is a liar and a fraud and should be expelled from Congress,” Garcia said.
“Republicans in the House now have an opportunity to either stand with the American public and their constituents or to stand with someone who has been indicted on 13 counts,” he told reporters.
On Tuesday, Garcia issued a privileged resolution to have Santos expelled from office granting the Republican-controlled House only two days to bring it up to a vote.
This measure comes less than a week since the Department of Justice handed down a 13-count indictment against Santos for years of deceitful conduct, as theGrio previously reported.
Garcia addressed Republicans who argue that Santos should not be forced to leave office and should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. However, Garcia contends that Santos has “already admitted to lying and defrauding” and should be held accountable for his deceptive actions.
“People want better from us and they want honest and ethical government…George Santos should not have access to our country’s most guarded secrets,” he voiced.
Ritchie Torres (D-NY) attended the press conference and stated, “George Santos is a chronic lawbreaker who has no business being in a law-making institution like the United States Congress.
“George Santos is not an isolated phenomenon. He is a symptom of a diseased Republican Party that has become a cesspool of corruption and criminality in the mold of Donald Trump [which opened] the floodgates for fundamentally fraudulent figures,” he argued.
In March, the House Ethics Committee announced that it would investigate Santos’ misconduct, but it could take a while before the committee takes any action.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy leaned on the Ethics Committee and asked them to “move rapidly” and expedite the process. Garcia, Torres and Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-NY, call this an empty gesture that is an avoidance tactic to prevent House Republicans from voting to expel Santos.
“If Kevin McCarthy decides instead to do a vote on sending this to the Ethics Committee, that is absolutely a cop-out. This is already in the Ethics Committee. We want an actual vote on the expulsion,” said Garcia.
Garcia told theGrio that if Republicans fail to schedule a vote on the resolution then he will continue “to demand that Santos be expelled.”
“I think that we’re here because we know it’s the right thing to do and clearly if the vote is taken up today and they try to send this to the Ethics Committee…we will continue to beat this drum every single day,” he said.
“George Santos should not be in Congress and we will do all that we can to ensure that he is removed,” he said.
Daniel Goldman (D-NY) told theGrio, that if Republicans refuse to vote Santos out of office then “they are siding with George Santos over George Santos’ voters.”
“Every single day that George Santos is in Congress, the Republican party…are complicit in him being here in Congress,” he stated.
Garcia’s resolution needs a two-thirds majority to pass and needs at least one-third of House Republicans to vote for Santos’ expulsion.
As it stands, Republican congressional members have yet to schedule a vote on the expulsion resolution, leaving them one more day to act.
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