THE G.O.P. HOLDS such a small and precarious majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, it makes it nearly impossible to advance legislatively. It’s worse today, thanks to the loss of two Republicans, which narrows the majority to just two.
It started with George Santos, who served as the U.S. Representative for the 3rd Congressional District of New York for less than a year. Elected in 2022 after having unsuccessfully running in 2020, he defeated Dem incumbent Tom Suozzi. He was a devout supporter of President Trump, and spoke at a Stop the Steal rally and attended the Save America rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6th, 2021. He holds the dubious distinctions of being the first openly gay rep for the G.O.P., as well as the sixth person to be expelled from the House of Representatives.
It turned out his bio appeared to be fabricated, including his ancestry (which is a foremost issue today for no reason whatsoever); ethnicity (also vitally unimportant, but highly scrutinized); education; employment, including charity work; finances; property ownership; victimhood, and even his residency. He ultimately admitted he fabricated his education and employment, but it wasn’t all he lied about or hid.
He had committed check fraud in Brazil in 2008, failing to appear in court. He eventually agreed to plead guilty. And in New York in the 2010s, he failed to pay personal debt and eviction judgments against him, amounting to thousands. Two federal indictments alleging 23 fraud-related charges were brought against him in 2023, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Santos refused to resign his office, bartering his resignation to the issue of the speakership, and avoided an initial expulsion vote, but wasn’t so lucky the second time, after a House Ethics Committee report issued in November. The second vote on Dec. 1st was 311-114 to expel, with 112 Republicans joining Dems—over the 2/3 needed to pass. Santos was the first Republican rep expelled and the only one who was expelled without first being convicted of a federal crime (or supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War.)
As guilty as Santos may or may not be, he is the first person to have been expelled from the House without having been convicted first. That there is precedent for needing a conviction isn’t trivial: it’s called due process. A better approach would be to try to convince him to resign—after some critical votes the House had planned, including and especially spending bills. That’s just smart lawmaking, and Dems would do it that way in a New York nanosecond. But no. The G.O.P. likes to shoot itself in the foot because it either wants, or believes it deserves to lose.
Another loss to the G.O.P. is former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who announced on Dec. 6th he would be resigning at the end of the year. It was a debacle when he was forced to resign his speakership on Oct. 3rd, so soon after he received it, but those were the terms he agreed to. It made the G.O.P. look like the grumpy old party, but it had been battling the mental demon of donkeys in elephants’ clothing for years, without much success.
Still, McCarthy’s seat is staunchly Republican, so probably no worries there, but Santos’ seat is usually Dem all the way. It is said he won only because of disinterest in the election during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s up for grabs.
It’s Dems versus the G.O.P. and the G.O.P. is divided. The G.O.P. is MAGA versus Neocons, and MAGA is ascendant. Unfortunately, Neocons are as toxic as most Dems are today, so there is no reconciliation likely in the near future. Some of just hope it isn’t because Neocons have hands as dirty as the Biden and Obama-affiliated, corrupt Dems.
sua sponte 