Embattled Rep. George Santos survives expulsion vote in the House
WASHINGTON (WABC) -- A Republican-led resolution to expel embattled Rep. George Santos failed in the House on Wednesday night.
The push to try to oust Santos came from fellow GOP lawmakers in the New York delegation, who argue his past lies and embellishments about his personal history and his various legal entanglements make him unfit for office.
Expelling Santos from Congress would've required two-thirds of the House, approximately 289 of the House's 433 current members if all were present.
The final vote was 179-213, falling well short of the votes needed to pass the resolution against Santos.
Moments after the House rejected the effort, Santos proclaimed that "due process is still alive."
"I feel like due process is still alive. I feel like there's enough colleagues on both sides of the aisle here who understand that," Santos said. "And I think think this isn't victory for me as I just told you this is a victory for due process."
Santos said that he was prepared to leave Congress if his colleagues had voted the other way.
"100%," Santos said when asked if he would have left if he'd lost the vote. "I've made that very clear I wasn't going to fight it if this was the will that the body wanted. Although I disagreed with it, I was ready to leave. What was I going to do, squeak and squirm, no that's not what I do."
But for now, his position in the House of Representatives remains. Santos maintained he would continue to be cooperative with the ongoing ethics investigation he's facing.
"I don't run away from these questions, I don't run away from this process but the notion of wanting to have a predetermined outcome, that is wrong, that is literally a Banana Republic stance and I'm glad that that didn't go through," Santos said.
Asked about his political future, or the impact he might have on the politics of his party, especially those who sought to remove him, Santos was dismissive.
"I don't care. I don't care about them, I don't care about politics, I came here for policy, I care about policy," Santos said. "I don't care about reelections and keeping the political hacks employed. That's on them if they think I'm going to be a problem for their reelections."
Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, of New York, introduced the resolution last Thursday evening to expel Santos from Congress. He was joined by four other New York Republicans, U.S. Reps. Nick LaLota, Michael Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams.
D'Esposito said Santos is not "fit to serve his constituents as a United States representative." He sent a letter to colleagues Wednesday urging members to vote in favor of the resolution.
"We strongly urge you to vote in favor of this resolution and encourage you to contact any one of us should you have any doubts about expelling George Santos from this body," the members wrote.
Eyewitness News reporter Chantee Lans spoke with D'Esposito and asked if he felt defeated after learning the resolution did not pass.
"I wouldn't say defeated," he said. "I think disappointed obviously, but I think, like Mr. Lalota said, we established a good base. We had good conversation."
"We have to look forward and we have to find other opportunities to do what's right for New Yorkers, and what's right is that we expel George Santos and we're closer now than we've ever been," Lalota said.
According to the U.S. House Archive, only five lawmakers have ever been expelled. If the resolution had passed, Santos would have been the first expulsion since 2002 when House Democrat James Traficant was removed after he was convicted of 10 felony counts.
Right now, Republicans hold a majority so narrow that Santos' vote is crucial to their agenda.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was elected last week, says he does not support removing Santos without a conviction. Many members of Congress expressed concern that removing Santos from office ahead of a criminal proceeding could set a dangerous precedence.
Santos has not been convicted of a crime but has been indicted on 23 federal counts. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in court on October 27.
Santos was arraigned last week on a revised indictment accusing him of several frauds, including making tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on credit cards belonging to his campaign donors.
The New York Republican pleaded not guilty to 10 new charges last Friday at a courthouse on Long Island. He has already pleaded not guilty to 13 other charges filed in May.
(ABC News contributed to this report.)
RELATED | George Santos: The Man, the Myths, the Lessons | Full Special
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