Can George Santos Be Booted From His Seat? Here’s What It Would Take

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — With proceedings in the Capitol running anything but smoothly, New York lawmakers are still waiting to be sworn in as members of the House of Representatives.

One of those members includes Representative-elect George Santos, whose reputation has been severely tainted after a bombshell report accused the Republican of fabricating his resume.

Some lawmakers, including Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Retiring GOP Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, called on Santos to resign amid the alleged lies about where he attended college and his professional background.

If Santos refuses to resign, could he be refused the seat?

The short answer: Probably not.

“The House can only refuse to seat a member if it finds s/he fails to meet the requirements of age, citizenship, and residence,” said Deborah Pearlstein, a constitutional law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. “Exclusion seems off the table.”

Pearlstein said that the House has lesser “punishments” it can apply by party leadership or a majority vote. Some punishments can include censure and removal of committee assignments, among others.

Only five lawmakers have been expelled from Congress, with the first dating back to 1861. The last member to be expelled was former Representative James A. Traficant in 2002 for bribery, obstruction of justice, and filing false tax returns, among other charges.

Santos faces investigations into possible illegal campaign disclosures and financing, while Brazilian authorities will reopen a 2008 criminal case against the 34-year-old Republican.

On Tuesday, Santos was pictured sitting alone in the House chamber and mostly spending time on his phone. His office mistakenly published a press release stating he was sworn in as a member, despite no elected member of the House being sworn in.

Once a speaker is chosen, incoming members can be sworn in. The House will return to the chamber on Wednesday to vote on a speaker.

This is a developing story, and will update after the House speaker vote.