George Santos Survives Republican-Led Move To Expel Him From House

Embattled Republican Rep. George Santos of New York remains a congressman in the House of Representatives for now as he survives a vote to expel him from Congress.

The move to expel Santos was led by his fellow New York Republican colleagues, who argued that his past lies and embellishments regarding his personal history, as well as his various legal battles regarding fraud, make him unfit for office.

While other Republicans have voiced their criticisms of Santos, the GOP only has a razor-thin majority in the House, and this left many on the fence.

Getting Santos expelled could spell more problems for Republicans. Thus, many voted "no," likely to preserve the lead they currently have. Analysts say this was more of a political choice rather than a moral one, as many across the aisle have called on Santos to resign.

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, also a New York Republican, led the charge to expel Santos. According to ABC News, he was backed by fellow New York Republicans Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, Marc Molinaro, and Brandon Williams. However, while a majority of Democrats were expected to vote with them in a bipartisan effort, they faced steep odds to get Santos expelled.

Several Democrats Voted Not To Expel George Santos From the House

While several Republicans and a lot of Democrats have been wanting to get Santos expelled for a long time now, supporters of the resolution were not able to even gain a simple majority as many House Representatives voted no, including a few Democrats.

The final tally was 179 representatives voting for expulsion while 213 voted against it, with 19 voting "present."

According to the Associated Press, most Republicans and 31 Democrats opted to withhold punishment against Santos, who is not just facing a criminal fraud trial but also a House Ethics Committee investigation.

Even if those who wanted to kick Santos out reached the majority, they would still not be able to get Santos out of the House, as a two-thirds majority is required to do so.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Santos told reporters after the vote, "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."

George Santos Continues Insisting He Is Innocent

Despite the heavy accusations against him, including fraudulently sending payments from a campaign donor to his personal bank account without that donor's consent, George Santos has remained defiant in front of the media.

"I will continue to fight to defend myself. I will continue to serve the 3rd Congressional District of New York until the people choose to not have me," he told reporters, adding that his New York Republican colleagues voted to expel him because it was "politically expedient" for them.

Several Republicans and even a few Democrats stated that they wanted to know how the House Ethics Committee handled the case first before deciding on what to do with Santos.

Meanwhile, D'Esposito warned that he could force another vote to expel Santos after the Ethics Committee releases its findings, telling reporters, "In two weeks, we will read the ethics report, and, you know, you don't need to be a retired New York City detective to understand that the report is probably not going to be good, and we'll go from there."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: House of Representatives rejects bid to expel Rep. George Santos - CBS News