Santos

Speaker Mike Johnson set to oppose expelling Santos

It’s not clear that there are enough votes to meet the two-thirds threshold needed to eject the indicted New York Republican on Friday.

OLIVIA BEAVERS

Speaker Mike Johnson will vote on Friday to oppose the expulsion of George Santos, signaling that the House GOP’s leaders will swing against the bipartisan push to boot the indicted New York Republican.

While Johnson and his leadership team are not formally whipping against the latest expulsion push, describing it as a vote of conscience, other House Republicans on the fence are certain to take cues from the GOP leader. It’s not clear that there are enough votes to meet the two-thirds threshold needed to eject Santos.

Johnson's planned vote, confirmed by a spokesperson for the Louisiana Republican, emerged about an hour before the House is slated to vote on ousting Santos. That vote follows a damning Ethics Committee report that identified multiple improper actions by the first-term New Yorker, who's nationally infamous for fabricating major elements of his background while campaigning.

Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) had previously said he opposes removing Santos before a conviction at a trial on wire fraud and other counts that's set to start next year. House Republicans are increasingly under the impression that Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) will also oppose Santos' expulsion as well, though she has yet to say where she lands publicly.

Santos, who is facing a 23-count federal indictment, appeared like he was a goner at the beginning of the week. Nearly 90 House Republicans planned to link arms with House Democrats to remove him, according to an internal POLITICO whip count. Nearly all House Democrats are expected to support booting Santos.

House Democrats have pitched their own Santos expulsion measure, but the GOP proposal of choice on the matter is led by Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.).

Initial momentum for Guest's resolution is rapidly fading, however, as some Republicans warn about the danger of setting a precedent that blesses expulsion a member before a criminal conviction. While some GOP members say they now oppose evicting Santos, others are now back on the fence.

Either way, senior House Republicans predict the vote will be exceedingly close. If Santos’ critics succeed, it would thin the already small majority House Republicans have struggled to control.

If the expulsion fail, it is certain to squash the long-running effort to remove him by Santos' biggest critics in the House GOP — fellow New York Republicans — who have sought to politically distance themselves by leading the vote to expel.