Group flies 15-foot George Santos balloon to call for his expulsion
A progressive organization unveiled a 15-foot balloon display of Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Tuesday, calling for the House to expel the embattled lawmaker over his alleged violation of federal crimes.
MoveOn Political Action debuted the balloon in front of the Capitol Tuesday morning. The caricature balloon of Santos wore glasses akin to those the freshman lawmaker wears, along with a suit and a tie that reads, “full of lies.”
The progressive group said it has been calling on the New York lawmaker to resign or for colleagues to expel him since his allegations of fraud surfaced last year. The group’s petition for Santos’s resignation or expulsion has over 154,000 signatures as of Tuesday.
The display comes weeks after the House Ethics Committee released a scathing report on Santos that claimed there is “substantial evidence” the New York lawmaker committed serious federal crimes. While it did not recommend formal sanctions, the committee’s report further fueled calls for his expulsion.
Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) previously said Santos’s conduct “warrants public condemnation, is beneath the dignity of the office, and has brought severe discredit to the House.” Guest introduced an expulsion resolution the day following the report’s release, but he did not force a vote on it.
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Santos already survived two expulsion attempts earlier this year, though a third could come as soon as this week. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) on Tuesday moved to force a vote on Santos’s expulsion, setting up for a potential third round of voting.
Garcia called the legislation to expel Santos to the floor as a privileged resolution that requires the lower chamber to take action on the measure in two legislative days. The procedural workaround would require the vote to take place this week as a result.
Garcia forced the first vote for Santos’s expulsion in May, which ended after it was referred to the Ethics panel.
A third expulsion attempt may have an increased chance of success, with multiple lawmakers who previously backed Santos saying they would now vote for expulsion, following the report’s release.
Santos announced he will not run for reelection in 2024, but has repeatedly rejected calls for him to step down before his term is up. While he remains steadfast in finishing his term, the New York Republican recognized last week he thinks he will get expelled if a third vote is brought the floor.
“I’ve done the math over and over, and it doesn’t look really good,” Santos said in a conversation on X Spaces.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Monday that he spoke with Santos “at some length” during the holiday recess “about his options.”
Santos is facing 23 federal charges over allegations of inflated campaign finance reports, unemployment benefit fraud, and the use of campaign funds for personal purchases. These purchases included Botox, trips to Vegas and Atlantic City, and OnlyFans, a subscription platform largely used for adult content.
He pled not guilty to these charges earlier this year and has denied the claims against him.
Mychael Schnell contributed.
Updated 2:22 p.m.
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