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Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) has put Republicans in a pickle: How do celebration leaders take care of his fabrications and misrepresentations with out jeopardizing their slim majority or setting a precedent?
The reply to this point, for probably the most half, is to say nothing and let Santos converse for himself — and maybe to let voters resolve Santos’s destiny in 2024.
Home Minority Chief Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Home Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Emmer (Minn.) and Home Republican Convention Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) haven't commented on the revelations surrounding Santos’s background and falsehoods.
The fact is that a slim incoming majority of 222 GOP seats to 212 Democratic seats and one emptiness leaves Republicans little political incentive to come back down exhausting on Santos, as they may want his vote to move their priorities.
And McCarthy, who's dealing with opposition from a handful of hard-line Home Republicans threatening to sink his Speaker bid, might have Santos’s vote to safe the Speakership on Jan. 3. Santos expressed help for McCarthy for Speaker in a tweet final week that has since been deleted.
McCarthy didn't reply questions on Santos within the Capitol final week, and Home GOP leaders didn't reply to or touch upon Santos on Wednesday.
“He is finally going to pay a value,” one Republican strategist mentioned of Santos, talking on the situation of anonymity to talk candidly. “However he isn't going to pay a value at the least till after the Speaker vote due to the tight majority.”
“It's a must to truthfully play the counterfactual. If this case erupted throughout the Democratic caucus, [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi [D-Calif.] would maintain this beneath wraps as effectively and never hand out a punishment till after that occurs, no matter that punishment could also be,” the strategist mentioned. “And sadly, you even have a slippery slope right here. When you go after this man for mendacity, the place does it cease?”
As leaders stay silent, some Republicans are beginning to converse out in opposition to Santos. Three Republican members-elect from New York have scolded Santos this week.
Nick LaLota on Tuesday known as for “a full investigation by the Home Ethics Committee and, if crucial, regulation enforcement” into Santos. Anthony D’Esposito mentioned that Santos’s “fabrications relating to the Holocaust and his household’s historical past are notably dangerous.” And Mike Lawler mentioned Wednesday that Santos “ought to cooperate absolutely” with federal, state and native investigations “if he's to regain the belief of his constituents and colleagues.”
Rep. Pete Classes (R-Texas), a former chairman of the NRCC from 2009 to 2013, instructed the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that he's “not supportive of him being in our convention in any respect from what I do know.” However Classes mentioned that the revelations about Santos don't essentially “imply he is expelled.”
“It signifies that his placement inside any committee construction, his placement inside our celebration, and his reelection needs to be evaluated,” Classes mentioned.
Santos does have a powerful defender in Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who was faraway from her committee assignments after uproar about her social media posts spreading conspiracy theories and interacting with posts advocating violence in opposition to Democrats.
“I believe we Republicans ought to give George Santos an opportunity and see how he legislates and votes, not deal with him the identical because the left is,” Greene tweeted on Tuesday.
There's additionally a hazard that being too forceful may create a precedent that Republicans are not looking for. Some lawmakers have stayed in Congress via scandals with out resigning or being expelled till after a legal conviction.
Greene and Santos, who says he is not going to step down, have pointed to what they are saying are equally damaging scandals and falsehoods from Democrats and President Biden — and implicitly argue Santos ought to proceed serving in Congress.
“I am not resigning. If I've to depart Congress,” Santos mentioned in a Metropolis & State interview this week, “it is going to be by a pink slip by the voters, November of 2024.”
If historical past is any indication, it's unlikely that Santos will probably be prevented from being sworn in or forcibly faraway from his publish until extra substantial authorized points come up. Home Ethics Committee investigations also can take months or years to be resolved, and the panel not often doles out harsh punishments.
The Republican Steering Committee, on which McCarthy may have outsize energy assuming he turns into Speaker, controls most committee assignments for Home Republicans and will decide to maintain Santos off prime panels — or doubtlessly any panels. The committee is anticipated to select contested chairs and assign committees after a Speaker is elected.
The Home can expel members with a two-thirds majority vote, however that not often occurs. Solely 5 Home members have been expelled within the historical past of Congress, three in 1861 for supporting the Confederacy and two in 1980 and 2002 after legal convictions for conspiracy to commit bribery.
Santos’s public picture issues, although, could possibly be evolving into authorized ones. The Nassau County district lawyer’s workplace mentioned Wednesday that it's wanting into Santos, with District Legal professional Anne Donnelly, a Republican, saying that the “quite a few fabrications and inconsistencies related to Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing in need of gorgeous.”
In the meantime, Santos went on a media tour this week with the New York Publish, radio station WABC, New York outlet Metropolis & State and Fox Information to deal with his previous and misrepresentations about his background. He admitted that he didn't graduate from any school and mentioned he used a “poor selection of phrases” when he mentioned he labored for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs when he truly labored with an organization that did enterprise with the monetary giants.
However the media blitz has solely introduced extra consideration to his misrepresentations — and extra criticism. Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo mentioned on Tuesday that he's ”deeply upset in Mr. Santos” and expects “greater than only a blanket apology."
Questions stay about Santos's inflow of non-public wealth that he used to fund his marketing campaign, an allegation of verify fraud in Brazil that he has denied, his assertion about connections to victims of the Pulse nightclub taking pictures, work with an animal rescue group and his illustration of Jewish heritage, amongst different points.
Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, dug in on Santos as she crammed in for Fox Information host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday.
“Do you don't have any disgrace?” Gabbard requested.
Santos deflected, citing falsehoods from Democrats and Biden.
Rep. Jim Banks (Ind.), the outgoing head of the highly effective Republican Examine Committee, commented on Twitter that Gabbard did a “good job.”
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