Tuesday, Democratic California Representative Robert Garcia introduced a resolution to expel Republican New York Representative George Santos from the House of Representatives, according to a report by The Daily Caller.

Santos, a first-term Republican from New York, has been fraught with controversy since taking office, including allegations of sexual misconduct and eventually fraud charges.

The Resolution Sponsor's Thoughts

"I'm starting the process of forcing a floor vote on our resolution to expel George Santos from the U.S. House of Representatives," Garcia said in a statement online.

"Republicans will now have a chance to demonstrate to the American people that an admitted liar and criminal should not serve in Congress. George Santos is a fraud and a liar, and he needs to be expelled by the House. News that federal prosecutors are filing 13 criminal charges against George Santos should have been the final straw for Kevin McCarthy, but he refuses to act.

Republicans now have a chance to demonstrate to Americans that an admitted criminal should not serve in the House of Representatives."

I'm starting the process of forcing a floor vote on our resolution to expel George Santos from the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans will now have a chance to demonstrate to the American people that an admitted liar and criminal should not serve in Congress. pic.twitter.com/GLmskqnier

— Congressman Robert Garcia (@RepRobertGarcia) May 16, 2023

The Charges:

Santos was detained on May 10 due to alleged fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds conspiracy. The 13-count indictment, which was unsealed and made public on May 10, asserts that there is strong evidence Santos defrauded potential political supporters by laundering funds for his expenditures and unlawfully collecting unemployment benefits while employed.

Additionally, prosecutors offered evidence that he lied to the House of Representatives about his assets, income, and liabilities.

"This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for multiple alleged fraudulent schemes and flagrant misrepresentations," said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

House Republicans Response

While the House only has a few legislative days to address the resolution brought forward by Garcia, two significant obstacles stand in the resolution's way.

The first is that according to the House Rules and Precedents, the Republican-controlled House would need to support the measure with a two-thirds majority, which would take serious bi-partisan support.

The second is that House Majority Leader Keven McCarthy would rather have the matter turned over to the House Ethics Committee to consider, rather than decide outright whether Santos should be removed from office.

“I don’t want to wait around for the courts to act,” McCarthy said when questioned by reporters on just after the resolution was brought.

"What I would like to do is have the House take action and have a process here. So let’s send it to Ethics, which has an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. … I think they could do this work rather rapidly and come back and report to the full House.”