U.S. House expels Santos; Rep. French Hill votes against explusion

On Friday, the United States House of Representatives voted to expel its first member since 2002.

Republican Rep. George Santos of New York was expelled from the House by a vote of 311 to 114.

All 114 votes to allow Santos to remain in the chamber came from the republican side, but the 311-vote coalition had votes from every Democrat in the House along with 105 Republicans.

Republican Rep. French Hill, who represents Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District which includes Saline County, voted against expelling Santos from Congress. Hill released a statement following the vote.

“I have called on Rep. George Santos to resign since his fraudulent and discrediting conduct and inappropriate actions became public. Before today, the House had voted to expel only five Members of Congress, including only two since 1980 both of whom were convicted of their crimes before expulsion. I believe that expelling a Member of Congress before conviction

before conviction sets a dangerous precedent, which is why today I voted no to expel Rep. Santos,” said Hill.

Hill’s fellow Arkansas Representatives voted differently, Reps. Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman both voted to expel Santos, and Rep.

Rick Crawford did not vote.

The decision to expel Santos from Congress comes after the bipartisan House Ethics Committee released a report on his conduct during the campaign trail and his time in office.

The report accuses Representative Santos of various misconduct, including causing his campaign committee to file false reports, using campaign funds for personal purposes, engaging in fraudulent conduct with RedStone Strategies LLC, and violating the Ethics in Government Act related to financial disclosures.

An investigative subcommittee compiled a comprehensive record, demonstrating the extent of Representative Santos’ alleged wrongdoing.

Santos was elected to the House after the 2022 midterm elections and was inaugurated this past January so the expulsion vote comes before the halfway point of his first term in Congress.

The last time an expulsion in the House took place was in 2002 when they voted to expel Democratic Rep. James Traficant of Ohio who was convicted of federal corruption charges.

Expulsion from the House of Representatives is rare, only six members have been expelled in all of its history, including Santos.