By Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) – In a historic move, the US House of Representatives on Friday expelled New York Congressman George Santos, who is currently facing indictments for lying about his background during his 2022 campaign for his seat.
Santos was expelled in a 311-114 vote, with 105 fellow Republicans turning against him in the third vote since this May to expel the lawmaker from Congress.
Two Democratic Representatives, Bobby Scott of Virginia and Nikema Williams of Georgia, voted against expelling Santos, while two Democrats, Al Green of Texas and Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, voted present.
With the vote, Santos, 35, became only the sixth member of the US House of Representatives in US history to be expelled and the first in two decades.
Since his election to the House in 2022, multiple instances emerged of Santos lying about his background, including the school he attended, his work history, and his mother supposedly being in the World Trade Center on the day of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
The ex-congressman currently faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, according to an indictment unsealed in May.
Leaving before his expulsion vote was finished, Santos told reporters about Congress: “To hell with this place.”
A special election will be held to fill Santos’ seat. Until then, his expulsion narrows Republican control of the House to just a few seats, leaving very little margin for error in close votes.