House Democrats plan to introduce a resolution Monday to censure Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) for “repeatedly” lying to voters and donors about a number of things, including his faith, his education and employment history and more.
“I am introducing a resolution to publicly censure George Santos for defrauding the people of the United States,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who wrote the resolution, tweeted Monday. “I have a message to House Republicans who, for too long, have been protecting Mr. Santos, who has disgraced the United States Congress. Stop treating Mr. Santos as untouchable. The time has come for Congress to hold him accountable.”
Santos tweeted Monday that Democrats have “lost focus” on what they should be doing.
“My record proves that my office is hard at work, serving constituents and crafting keen legislation,” he wrote.
“The Republican majority is also working hard to get the country back on track and clean up the mess left behind by destructive one-party Democrat rule. It is time to stop the political ping-pong and get real work done.”
In May, Santos was indicted on 13 charges, two of which were making false statements to the House of Representatives. He pleaded not guilty to all of them. Santos was elected to the House in November 2022, but soon afterward, reports came out that showed he didn’t tell the truth about his background. In December, Santos said he embellished his résumé, including where he went to school and that he “never worked directly” for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
“If you are a member of Congress who has informally condemned Mr. Santos, then you should have no trouble formally censuring him,” Torres said Monday, according to The New York Times. “He has disgraced the institution, and the institution should speak with one voice against his misconduct.”
In January, Torres called on Santos to resign for not only the “national nightmare” for Santos but also his constituents, who were denied representation “they deserve.” Others, including Democrats and Republicans, have called on Santos to resign. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he would call on Santos to resign if the House Ethics Committee found that Santos broke the law. In June, the committee said it was working in an “expeditious timeframe” to conclude the investigation.
In June, the House voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for holding positions of power during Donald Trump’s presidency and for abusing “this trust by saying there was evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia,” according to The Associated Press.
Santos is running for reelection in 2024. He has raised more than $130,000 and he withdrew $85,000 to repay the thousands of dollars he loaned himself to win in 2022, according to AP.