Rep. George Santos appears to be a fraud who’s lied about everything from his Jewish identity to his employment history. But that doesn’t mean the first-term Republican from New York deserves to be kicked out of Congress.
Democrats, naturally, see an opportunity to make hay about an embarrassing scandal by calling for him to resign. His predecessor, Tom Suozzi, goes further, arguing that Santos “must be removed by Congress or by prosecutors” since resignation isn’t going to happen. Some current House Democrats have also demanded expulsion. One has even pledged to introduce the Stopping Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker Act (the SANTOS Act, get it?), which would “require candidates to disclose under oath their employment, educational, & military history so we can punish candidates who lie to voters about their qualifications.”
The Santos story certainly has its amusing aspects, and represents a kind of joint failure of journalism, Democratic Party political operations and the Long Island voting public. But is it the kind of crisis that demands the extraordinary action of expelling a member of Congress, or altering the legal requirements for office?
