House votes to send Santos expulsion resolution to Ethics Committee

The House on Wednesday punted the question of whether Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) should be removed from Congress, referring an expulsion resolution to the Ethics Committee and shielding Republican lawmakers from having to weigh in on the matter directly.

The chamber voted 221-204-7 to send the resolution to the Ethics panel, a largely redundant move since the committee has been investigating Santos since March amid mounting questions about his background and finances. The panel is looking into whether he engaged in unlawful activity during his 2022 campaign and failed to properly disclose information to the House, among other areas of inquiry.

All five Democrats on the Ethics Committee — Susan Wild (Pa.), Glenn Ivey (Md.), Veronica Escobar (Texas), Deborah Ross (N.C.), Mark DeSaulnier (Calif.) — voted present, as did Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.). The remaining votes fell along party lines.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) introduced the expulsion resolution in February, but called the measure to the floor as a privileged resolution on Tuesday — nearly one week after Santos was indicted on federal charges — a move that forced Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to take action on the measure within two legislative days.

McCarthy ultimately chose to hold a vote on referring the resolution to the Ethics Committee for consideration, which required a simple majority vote. He could have moved...