House To Vote on George Santos Expulsion, Censures of 2 Others Next Week

House lawmakers, angry at their controversial colleagues, have teed up action for next week on measures to expel legally embattled New York GOP Rep. George Santos and censure two other members.

All three measures, which include resolutions to censure Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., must be voted on by Wednesday.

But GOP leaders have options for what format those votes will take. They can allow direct votes on the resolutions; motions to table — or kill them — or motions to refer the matters to the Ethics Committee.

Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the House, while censure requires only a simple majority. Motions to table the resolutions, or refer them to committee, also can be done with a simple majority.

The effort to expel Santos, led by fellow Republican New York Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and other freshmen GOP members of the delegation, has been in the works since the Justice Department filed more criminal charges against him two weeks ago. But D’Esposito and his colleagues couldn't act on it at the time because the House was effectively shut down without a speaker until Wednesday, when nascent candidate Rep. Mike Johnson was elected to the top House leadership post.

D’Esposito went to the House floor Thursday afternoon to begin the process of forcing a vote on his resolution to expel Santos, which must be voted on within two legislative days.

It was the third such move of the day. On Thursday morning Greene, a close ally of Donald Trump, requested consideration of her resolution to censure Tlaib, a Palestinian American who voted against a pro-Israel resolution on Wednesday.

And in a tit-for-tat, Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., fired back later Thursday afternoon, offering a resolution to censure Greene.

The House, which is adjourned through the weekend, now must act on all three resolutions within two legislative days. That sets up votes on Wednesday night when House lawmakers are scheduled to return.

The resolution to expel Santos comes as he faces 23 federal criminal charges, including counts of money laundering, wire fraud, identify theft and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and the House of Representatives. Santos is due back in federal court in New York on Friday.

"George Santos' many deceptions coupled with the ever-expanding legal case against him further strengthen my long held belief that he is unfit to serve in Congress,” D’Esposito said in an Oct. 11 statement announcing the expulsion resolution.

Greene's resolution to censure Tlaib accuses her of "antisemitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations, and leading an insurrection at the United States Capitol Complex." It refers to controversial statements Tlaib has made about Jewish people and Israel, her refusal to denounce Hamas and accuses her of leading an "insurrection," referring to a pro-Palestine protest in the Cannon House office building last week.

Balint, a gay progressive, responded in kind, calling up a resolution she had introduced in July to censure Greene for having "repeatedly fanned the flames of racism, antisemitism, LGBTQ hate speech, Islamophobia, anti-Asian hate, xenophobia, and other forms of hatred."

Earlier Thursday House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries gave his blessing to Balint's effort when asked about Greene's resolution to censure Tlaib. He said if Republicans want to go down the punishment route, the resolution to censure Greene "should be right at the top of the list."

Greene responded on social media to Balint's effort to censure the Georgia ultraconservative.