Dem
51
GOP
49
As we noted yesterday, the legal troubles faced by Rep. "George Santos" (R-NY) have deepened considerably. His fellow New York Republican House members do not want him to drag them down (no pun intended), especially since there's an excellent chance that some of their districts will be redrawn to be less red. So, half a dozen of the New Yorkers are going to introduce a resolution to expel "Santos" from the House.
Readers may recall that this maneuver was tried once before, although the circumstances are different this time. Then, it was instigated by Democrats, with Kevin McCarthy aggressively whipping votes (including the votes of the New York members) to protect his slim majority. Now, it is being instigated by Republicans, the legal problems are more serious, and a House Ethics Committee report on "Santos" has come back. It was not favorable.
It's going to take some time for this to be resolved since there is, of course, no speaker right now to bring the matter to the floor. Once that can be done, then it will take about 80 Republican votes to reach the 2/3 threshold needed to expel "Santos" (assuming all Democrats vote to expel, as they did before). Will that many members be willing to risk making their majority even more narrow—"Santos'" district, NY-03, is D+2—to try to protect their fellows next year? It could come down to how aggressive the next speaker is when it comes to protecting "Santos." If the speaker is Steve Scalise, well, it's worth noting that "Santos" endorsed, and voted for, Jim Jordan. (Z)