Here Are the Four House Dems Who Voted ‘Present’ or Against Expelling George Santos

On Friday, in a historic vote, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled from the House of Representatives, due in no small part to revelations about lies in his past, which first came to light in the wake of the 2022 midterm elections.

However, four Democrats bucked their party’s overwhelming vote to remove Santos from office, either voting “present” or against kicking the controversial lawmaker out of Congress.

In total, 311 House lawmakers voted to expel Santos, with 114 voted against it. There were 105 Republicans and 206 Democrats who voted to remove him, while 112 Republicans and two Democrats voted to keep him in office. 

The two Democrats who bucked their party and voted to keep Santos in Congress were Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott and Georgia Rep. Nikema Williams. 

“George Santos is not worthy of serving in the House of Representatives,” Williams said in a statement. “He will likely be convicted of the crimes of which he has was accused. This is the People’s House – and although the House Ethics Committee findings were damning, the people of New York’s Third Congressional District should decide who represents them. I’ll always side on giving power to the voters.”

Two other Democrats, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) and Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) voted present. Jackson did so because the ethical events occurred while Santos was running for office, arguing that it was outside of his official duties, he told an Axios reporter, who later posted the comments on X. 

“I don’t think it’s our responsibility … If he was doing misconduct in office, we should certainly take him out,” Jackson said.

The controversy around Santos began after it was revealed that much of his biography was falsified and was a major aspect of his campaign platform. He claimed to have attended New York University and worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and to have Jewish heritage, claiming to voters that his grandparents had fled the Nazis during World War II. All of these claims were false. 

Santos was later indicted on 23 counts by federal prosecutors who accused him of inflating his fundraising totals in order to draw more support from the Republican Party, laundering funds to pay for personal expenses and charging donors’ credit cards without permission.

In early November, a vote to expel Santos failed 179-213. A total of 182 of his fellow Republicans and 31 Democrats voted against removing him on the grounds that his criminal case should be resolved first, casting a ballot to expel the truth-challenged congressman following his sweeping 23-count federal indictment on embezzlement and fraud charges.

However, that support eroded following a bipartisan congressional investigation that found that Santos charged almost $4,000 for spa treatments, including Botox, to his congressional campaign account. 

He also spent more than $4,000 of campaign money at luxury retailer Hermes and made “smaller purchases” from OnlyFans, an online platform known for sexual content, according to the Ethics Committee.

Santos, 35, is only the sixth member to be expelled from the House in United States history. The New York congressman was the first to be kicked out without having fought for the Confederacy or being convicted of a crime.

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