The House on Wednesday will get to work on three privileged resolutions filed last week to punish two lawmakers and kick one — George Santos (R-N.Y.) — out of the chamber completely.
Who’s who: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced the resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) filed her own to censure Greene. Santos is facing expulsion, led by fellow Republicans from New York.
How it’ll work: A censure is a formal, majority vote in the House on a resolution disapproving of a member’s conduct, generally with the additional requirement that the member stand in the well of the chamber and receive a verbal rebuke and reading of the resolution by the speaker. In plain English: It’s a lot of finger-wagging.
Last time it happened: In June, the House voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) for actions while he was House Intelligence chair leading investigations into then-President Donald Trump. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) was censured in November 2021 after he posted an anime video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). He ended up losing his committee assignments. Before that, the House censured New York Democrat Charles Rangel in 2010.
History lesson: A total of 26 members have been censured in the House for misconduct ranging from assaulting other lawmakers to using insulting language. More recent censures have stemmed from behavior such as sexual misconduct, financial improprieties and payroll fraud.
Crucially: There are no express consequences in the House rules after a member has been censured.
But Santos is different: The expulsion resolution against the indicted New Yorker will need two-thirds majority to oust him from the House. Nearly 80 Republicans would have to join with Democrats to vote Santos out — narrowing their already miniscule majority.
Expulsion is the most severe sanction the House has for its members. The last lawmaker expelled from the House? Ohio’s James A. Traficant in 2002.
On Tuesday, the House Ethics Committee made an unusual disclosure: As part of their ongoing investigation into Santos, they had issued 37 subpoenas, contacted about 40 witnesses and dug through more than 170,000 pages of documents. The panel will take any next steps on or before Nov. 17. His trial on 23 charges of bribery, wire fraud and identity theft charges, is set to start in September 2024.
