Originally published at: Hoping to avoid expuslion vote, Republicans beg George Santos to resign | Boing Boing
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He’ll probably just not resign and say he did.
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I hope he does not, and he forces them to once again put onto the record that they care more about their own majority than they do having such an obviously corrupt person in their caucus.
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I’d be pretty disappointed if he did, after all the things he has been alleged to have said and done, just get up and said I quit.
(And George, we still haven’t forgotten about the thing with the dog.)
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“How amazing is it that getting rid of Santos is not yet a done deal? A convicted felon can (and has) been a member of Congress, even while in prison.”
For sedition no less.
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That is disappointing, but at least it’s looking very likely that one way or the other he’ll be gone within the week.
On the other side of the Capitol Building, it’s pretty messed up that Bob Menendez is still continuing to serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, still continuing to get classified briefings FFS, even though he’s been criminally indicted for acting as a foreign agent. And neither of the Senators from my state have even publicly suggested that he should resign, let alone take steps to expel him.
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That’s pretty messed up. Sure Santos is more or less a conman, but Menendez is being influenced by a foreign power.
(Though I am 100% sure Santos would have taken the same deal.)
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Yeah, clearly both belong in jail, but it’s easy to argue that conning some gullible GOP donors out of some campaign contributions in order to fund a lavish lifestyle and pay for an Onlyfans account is much less damaging to the country overall than a powerful Senator steering national policy based on outright bribes from foreign governments. I’m amazed that the Menendez thing isn’t a bigger news story. Loath as I am to admit it, but it would be justifiable for GOP political campaigns to hammer Democratic Senators for their silence on this.
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This would have been an ideal opportunity for the Democrats to step up and provide a study in contrasts by ousting their own corrupt legislator before the Republicans did. Instead they’re just handing ammo to the “bOTh SiDes!” crowd. Infuriating.
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I’m sure Santos has his price. Give him enough cash and he’ll step down.
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I think the House Ds did the right thing in not ousting Santos before there was an ethics investigation report or a conviction. I don’t want people kicked out of Congress just because one party has the votes to oust them.
And I could say the same about Bob Menendez. It wasn’t that long ago that people who were even less obviously compromised by their own behavior would resign under the pressure of their own party and their own shame. We can’t know what senators are saying to Menendez in private, but hopefully he can see the writing on the wall.
The current governor is a D and would presumably appoint another D to the seat if Bob were to vacate, so it can’t be partianship keeping him in place, can it?
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One difference is that the Senate Ethics Committee hasn’t even announced that they’re conducting an investigation into Menendez. So clearly a report is unlikely to be released anytime soon. People are considered innocent of crimes until proven guilty in a court of law, but the standard for keeping a job can’t be that high when the charges are so serious and immediate. It would be nuts to keep giving him access to classified briefings while the trial is ongoing.
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Yeah, it’s understandable to stand on principle and say, we won’t expel for allegations, because you know what kind of madness that would unleash. But having the final ethics report in hand and the recent plea deals his staffers got for their crimes give them enough to go to the vote and say, we have the goods on him.
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I agree. It’s scandalous in my opinion. It used to be shame that would prevent his ongoing access-- he’d already be gone. Now I don’t know what the right move is. Holding politically motivated investigations is a specialty of congressional Republicans. Kicking someone out just because they are under investigation could lead to an abuse of the process. It would “weaponize” it, to use an over-used term. Suggestions?
A few thoughts on that.
- In the two-and-a-half centuries of United States history, “innocent legislator getting unfairly expelled from congress” is not a thing that has happened even once. It’s not a thing.
- Neither party is even close to having a supermajority of the house. Any expulsion would have to be a bipartisan act, and “a significant number of congresspeople voting to expel a member of their own party for no good reason” is also not really a thing.
- The process for expelling a grossly unfit member of congress is supposed to work more swifly than a criminal investigation and prosecution by design. Waiting for a conviction is a ridiculously high bar.
- As far as “setting dangerous precedents” goes, the Republicans have shown that they care not one whit for precendent as long as they have the power to enact their agenda. That’s why Senate Republicans refused to even consider letting Obama appoint a Supreme Court justice during his final year in office.
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the gop will weaponize whatever they want, wherever they want to. see tuberville’s hold on military promotions, the fiasco of ■■■■■’s senate trial, filibusters, supreme court nominations, and on.
the dems need to do the right thing. fear based choices aren’t doing them or us any favors
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How about we make a rule requiring a 2/3 majority before a member of Congress can be expelled, so that a vote would generally require buy-in from both parties? (Or else, if one party already controlled 2/3 of the votes then they would already have so much power that they could do whatever they wanted without resorting to expelling members of the opposition)
Because that’s actually the system we have already.
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Shame is a tactic that Donald Trump castrated. As Santos is demonstrating, notoriety is the new currency of the thugs.
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At the very least he should be removed from committees.
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