House expels New York Rep. George Santos. It's just the sixth expulsion in the chamber's history

WASHINGTON — The House voted Friday to expel Republican Rep. George Santos of New York after a blistering ethics report on his conduct heightened lawmakers' concerns about the scandal-plagued freshman. Santos became just the sixth member in the chamber's history to be ousted by colleagues, and the third since the Civil War.

The vote to expel was 311-114, easily clearing the two-thirds majority required. House Republican leaders opposed removing Santos, whose departure leaves them with a razor-thin majority, but in the end 105 GOP lawmakers sided with almost all Democrats to expel him.

The expulsion marked the final congressional chapter in a spectacular fall from grace for Santos. Celebrated as an up-and-comer after he flipped a district from Democrats last year, Santos' life story began to unravel before he was even sworn in to office. Reports emerged that he lied about having Jewish ancestry, a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, among other things.

In May, federal prosecutors indicted Santos on multiple charges, turning his presence in the House into a growing distraction and embarrassment to the party.

Santos joins a short list of lawmakers expelled from the House — and for reasons uniquely his own. Of the previous expulsions in the House, three were for siding with the Confederacy during the Civil War. The remaining two occurred after the lawmakers were convicted of crimes in federal court — the most recent in 2002.

Seeking to remain in office, Santos had appealed to colleagues to let the court process play out. He warned of the precedent they would set by expelling a member not yet convicted of a crime.

"This will haunt them in the future," Santos told lawmakers Thursday evening as they debated his removal.

As it became clear Friday that he would be expelled, Santos appeared resigned to his fate. He placed his overcoat over his shoulders and shook hands with conservative members who voted against his expulsion.

Santos' fellow Republicans from New York were front and center in the effort to boot him.

Among them were fellow freshmen who serve in key swing districts and helped the GOP take the House majority. They sought to generate as much political distance as they could from Santos, whose lies about his past made him a pariah in the House before he even took the oath of office.

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, whose district is next to Santos', led the debate for expulsion and argued that voters would welcome lawmakers holding themselves to a high standard. Another New York Republican, Rep. Nick Langworthy, said Santos had only himself to blame.

"Every precedent under the sun has been broken by George Santos," Langworthy said. "Has there ever been anyone here that's made up a whole life?"

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Santos survived two previous expulsion attempts, but a scathing House Ethics Committee report released the week before the Thanksgiving holiday appeared to turn colleagues decisively against him.

After eight months of work, Ethics Committee investigators said they found "overwhelming evidence" that Santos broke the law and exploited his public position for his own profit.

"It's a solemn day," said the chairman of the ethics panel, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss. "No one wants to have to remove a member from Congress. But the allegations against him, the evidence was overwhelming."

Rep. Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the Ethics Committee, reminded members that the decision approving the investigators' findings was unanimous.

"Mr. Santos is not a victim," Wild said. "He is a perpetrator of a massive fraud on his constituents and the American people."

Santos' troubles are far from over as he faces trial next year in New York. In a 23-count indictment, federal prosecutors accused him of duping donors, stealing from his campaign and lying to Congress.

The indictment alleges Santos stole the identities of campaign donors and used their credit cards to make tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges. He wired some of the money to his personal bank account and used the rest to pad his campaign coffers, prosecutors say. Santos pleaded not guilty.

Santos' expulsion narrows the GOP's majority to 221-213 and Democrats will have a good opportunity to fill the vacancy. Shortly after the vote, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said she's prepared to call a special election for the seat, likely in February under a time frame set by state law.

"When you look at his lack of ethics and the fact that, you know, he has not served the people of our state, particularly New York 3 where he resides, it's been an abysmal run for him," Hochul said Friday.

Now that he has been removed from office, Santos' congressional office will remain operational under the management of the Clerk of the House. No additional staff can be hired, but the current staff can stay on and perform constituent casework. They will be unable to undertake any legislative activity, such as the drafting of bills.

Photos: Rep. George Santos, R-NY