Republicans in the House of Representatives on Thursday voted to refer a privileged motion to expel New York Rep. George Santos to the Ethics Committee instead of holding a vote to remove the embattled lawmaker from Congress.


What You Need To Know

  • California Rep. Robert Garcia, the Democrat who earlier this week introduced the measure to expel New York Rep. George Santos from Congress, sent a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy demanding a “clear public timeline of when we may expect a report to be issued"

  • The House on Wednesday voted along party lines to refer a privileged motion to remove Santos from Congress to the Ethics Committee

  • Garcia’s measure was introduced earlier this week after Santos was arrested and charged in federal court last week with money laundering, wire fraud, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress; Santos pleaded not guilty to all charges

  • Also Thursday, a number of outlets reported that the House Ethics committee will not defer to the Justice Department on its probe, even though Santos faces federal charges

California Rep. Robert Garcia, the Democrat who earlier this week introduced the measure to boot Santos from Congress, sent a letter to fellow Golden State lawmaker House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to demand a “clear public timeline of when we may expect a report to be issued.”

In his letter, Garcia expressed his “disappointment” that the matter was referred to the Ethics panel, but quoted the speaker’s comments from earlier this week to reporters that the committee would “’look at this very quickly and come to a conclusion,’” as well as his hope that the body would “’move rapidly on this.’”

“Given your promises of swift action by the Ethics Committee, I hope that you will clarify the timeline by which we can expect the Ethics Committee to ‘move rapidly’ so that the House can take a transparent vote on whether Mr. Santos deserves to continue to serve as a member of this body,” Garcia wrote.

Garcia’s measure was introduced earlier this week after Santos was arrested and charged in federal court last week with money laundering, wire fraud, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. Santos pleaded not guilty to all charges and pledged to "fight the witch hunt."

The House voted along party lines – 221-204, with a handful of Democrats, all members of the Ethics panel, voting present – on referring the resolution. The House Ethics Committee has been probing Santos since March.

Every Republican who has called for Santos to be expelled – Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales – or resign – several New York Republican freshmen lawmakers who were elected with Santos, including Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota, supported the referral measure, despite their harsh rhetoric toward Santos.

"I believe that [Santos] is a stain on this institution, a stain on the state of New York, a stain on Long Island and a stain on the beloved Nassau County,” D’Esposito said Wednesday on the House floor ahead of the vote.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Garcia charged that the House GOP is “now the ‘Save Santos Caucus,’” accusing them of being “obviously committed to ensuring that a fraud stays in the Congress.”

Garcia told reporters that the purpose of his letter was to let McCarthy know "we're gonna demand every single day a public timeline on when the Ethics Committee is actually going to take up this issue."

Also Thursday, a number of outlets reported that the House Ethics committee will not defer to the Justice Department on its probe, even though Santos faces federal charges.

"Certainly the criminal case that DOJ wants to look at — feel free to continue that process," Ohio Rep. David Joyce, the panel's chairman, told NBC News. "But ethical issues that deserve to be reviewed here in the House Ethics Committee is what we’re going to do."

"It's out there that we've been investigating this matter, and believe it or not, we can walk and chew gum at the same time," Joyce said in a Washington Post Live interview on Wednesday. "The ethics decisions can be bifurcated from those that are criminal. DOJ will take care of all those criminal matters and those that are considered unethical behavior or conduct unbecoming a member of Congress or something that we still have the ability to entertain, and we'll continue to do so."

When asked by Spectrum News about the reports that House Ethics rebuffed the Justice Department's request to pause the interview, Garcia said it's a "good indication" that the probe will move forward.

"I think it's good to hear," Garcia said. "I think now that the votes have been taken, we need to know that estimates and move quickly. I think that that's a good indication that we're going to move forward that the Ethics Committee should move forward, but it needs to do so quickly."

"I think the public, especially the constituents in George Santos' district, they deserve to know when this is going to be heard," he added.