By Clare Foran, Manu Raju and Morgan Rimmer | CNN
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday expressed “real reservations” about expelling Rep. George Santos from the House since the New York Republican has yet to be convicted of a crime — even as GOP support grows to make him just the sixth member of the chamber ever to be formally ousted from his seat in the face of damning allegations about his conduct.
Santos has survived previous attempts to remove him from the House, but momentum is building for the latest effort after the release of a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee earlier this month, which concluded that he “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”
The renewed push to expel Santos presents a leadership test for the newly elected speaker as he navigates competing opinions within his conference.
As Republicans weigh how to vote, some argue it is imperative to expel the congressman given the findings of the ethics investigation, but others have raised concerns over due process given that Santos has not been convicted in a court of law.
If he were to be expelled, Santos would be the first House member to be ousted without having been convicted or having supported the confederacy. House Republicans also control a very narrow majority, and expulsion would shrink it even further.
“We’ve not whipped the vote and we wouldn’t,” Johnson said Wednesday morning. “I trust that people will make that decision thoughtfully and in good faith. I personally have real reservations about doing this, I’m concerned about a precedent that may be set for that.”
Expulsion is the most severe form of punishment for a lawmaker in the House and only five members have ever been expelled from the chamber. It is exceedingly rare and requires a two-thirds majority vote to succeed – a high bar to clear.
Santos announced that he would not seek reelection following the release…
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