Dem
51
GOP
49
Rep. "George Santos" (R-NY) has now said: "I know I'm going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor." Of course, he doesn't really know whether two-thirds of the chamber will vote for his expulsion, but it is a safe bet that (almost) all the Democrats will vote for it. If 80 Republicans also vote him out, he's a goner. The main reason Republicans might vote to save his neck is not that they approve of what he did, but because if he is expelled, there will be a special election in his NY-03 district on Long Island, which is D+2, and which a Democrat would be favored to win. "Santos" has now been indicted on 23 criminal counts and the House Ethics Committee wrote a scathing report about him.
"Santos" could resign and avoid an embarrassing vote, but he won't. The reason he won't resign is that doing so would be tantamount to admitting that he is, in fact, guilty of the charges the Ethics Committee listed in its report. That could work against him in the upcoming criminal trial. So he is going to stonewall it. In fact, he called the chair of the Ethics Committee, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), a "pussy."
Whether Guest is or is not what "Santos" called him, the fact is that Guest entered a privileged resolution to expel "Santos" just before the Thanksgiving break. Tomorrow, he is expected to start the process to force a vote on it. The vote will come this week. By Friday, we'll know how it plays out.
"Santos" didn't help his case when he said he wasn't running for reelection because he didn't want to work with a bunch of hypocrites who are "more worried about getting drunk every night with the next lobbyist that they're going to screw and pretend like none of us know what's going on." Experts claim that saying stuff like this is not the best way to win friends and influence people (see Cawthorn, Madison).
Finally, "Santos" said: "If you want to expel me, I'll wear it like a badge of honor. I'll be the sixth expelled member of Congress." Take that, Congress! Not too many people are happy to join a club that includes three Confederate sympathizers and two people convicted of taking bribes, but "Santos" is a different kind of fellow, we suppose. (V)