George Santos defies calls to resign ahead of third expulsion vote in US House

George Santos remains defiant ahead of a vote to expel him from Congress, accusing members of rushing to oust him without due process.

Two previous efforts to boot the lawmaker from his seat have failed, but a damning ethics report on his time in office has all but assured his removal.

The House of Representatives debated a motion to oust him on Thursday and is scheduled to vote on Friday.

Mr Santos said the effort represents "chaos" and "bullying" in Congress.

"I'm not trying to be arrogant or spiteful or, you know, disrespectful of the committee," Mr Santos said during the debate. "But I am curious to know: What is the schedule of the Ethics Committee? Why rush this?"

But he added that he will be "at peace" with whatever the outcome of Friday's vote may be.

"If tomorrow, when this vote is on the floor, it is in the conscience of all of my colleagues that they believe this is a correct thing to do, so be it. Take the vote," he said.

Earlier this month, the House ethics committee found the New York Republican "blatantly stole from his campaign" and exploited "every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit".

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Among the many allegations in its final report, the panel accused him of spending campaign money on Botox treatments, OnlyFans purchases and vacations in the Hamptons.

In Thursday's debate, committee's Republican chairman Michael Guest strongly defended the report and asked lawmakers to expel Mr Santos.

Expulsion votes are rare in Congress and requires a two-thirds supermajority - only five lawmakers have ever been removed this way.

"If I am to get expelled tomorrow, I will be number six in history, the first Republican and the only one without a conviction or without having committed treason," Mr Santos told reporters on Thursday.

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He is currently facing 23 federal felony charges, including wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds, as well as separate allegations of campaign finance violations.

Several lawmakers on both sides of the aisle defended the resolution to oust Mr Santos in Thursday's debate.

Susan Wild, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said the ethics report shows that he "repeatedly, egregiously and brazenly violated the public's trust".

Fellow Republican lawmakers from New York also denounced Mr Santos. House representative Marc Molinaro accused him of denying voters "an honest choice" by allegedly lying about his background when running for congress.

Meanwhile, Republican congressman Michael Lawler said: "He can defend himself in the court of law, but for the purposes of this body, he's got to go."

There were some lawmakers who argued that he has not been convicted of any crimes and deserved "due process".

"We're talking about the removal of a member of Congress," said Republican Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana.

"Are the American people to believe the opinions of congressmen is a higher standard than the delivered vote of the American people?"

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he had "real reservations" about the ousting of Mr Santos.

"We're going to allow people to vote their conscience," he added. "I trust that people will make the decision thoughtfully and in good faith."

As the House returned to work on Tuesday, two Democrats and the Republican chair of the ethics committee filed competing expulsion motions. Both measures, known as privileged resolutions, must be addressed on the House floor within 48 hours.

Several members, who previously voted down expulsion until the House ethics panel completed its work, told US media they were reversing their positions and now supported Mr Santos' removal.

Speaker Johnson and other party leaders have begged Mr Santos to resign so they can avoid another vote.

But the besieged Republican has rebuffed their pleas, venting online and bashing colleagues even as he concedes the next vote will likely succeed.

At his Thursday news conference, he claimed resigning would mean being bullied out. "If I leave, they win," he said. "This is bullying."

He added that he would introduce his own expulsion motion against Jamaal Bowman, a Democratic colleague accused of pulling a fire alarm to sabotage a vote.

Mr Bowman, who paid a $1,000 fine over the incident, shot back with a statement railing against "another meaningless stunt in his long history of cons, antics, and outright fraud".

The prospect of voting to remove Mr Santos is, however, a tricky matter for his party.

For one, it will further pare down Republicans' already-unstable nine-seat House majority.

And there is no guarantee another Republican will win the congressional seat he holds, which was easily won by Joe Biden in the 2020 general election.

If Mr Santos is expelled, New York's governor has 10 days to call for an election, which would take place 70 to 80 days later.