George Santos Begs His Colleagues To Let Him Finish The Term
Andy Kim (D-NJ), Adam Schiff D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Katie Porter (D-CA), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Jim Banks (R-IN), David Trone (D-MD), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Colin Allred (D-TX) are all running for Senate seats, so we won’t count them And Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) is running for governor, while Dan Bishop (R-NC) and Jeff Jackson (D-NC) are running to be North Carolina’s next Attorney General, so we won’t count them. And Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) is seriously ill so we won’t count her either. That leaves an even dozen Members of Congress— so far— who are retiring… either because they’re ancient and/or because they’re fed up with congressional dysfunction:
Grace Napolitano (D-CA), 86
Kay Granger (R-TX), 80
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), 75
Michael Burgess (R-TX), 72
Bill Johnson (R-OH), 69
Dan Kildee (D-MI), 65
Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), 65, who called the House “totally dysfunctional,” and that she felt more effective in her time back in the state legislature… “It’s a very frustrating environment.”
Ken Buck (R-CO), 64
John Sarbanes (D-MD), 61
Derek Kilmer (D-WA), 49
Victoria Spartz (R-IN), 45
George Santos (R-NY), 35
Virginia neo-fascist Bob Good said he was happy to see them go: “There are members who are part of the problem, not the solution, who’ve been here 20, 30 years and think that Washington’s working. If they don’t like our efforts to fix it for the American people, they shouldn’t stay in Congress.”
And we won’t count George Santos’ announcement of his impending departure either. The Ethics report dropped yesterday and although it didn’t recommend any specific action, it passed unanimously and the chairman, Michael Guest (R-MS) and Ranking Member Susan Wild (D-PA) issued a scathing statement:
At the completion of its investigation, the ISC unanimously concluded that there was substantial evidence that Representative George Santos: knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House. In light of the ongoing criminal investigation into Representative Santos, and the ISC’s findings of additional uncharged and unlawful conduct by Representative Santos, the ISC recommended that the Committee immediately refer these allegations to the Department of Justice.
The Committee has unanimously voted to adopt the ISC’s report, and with it, refer the substantial evidence of potential violations of federal criminal law to the Department of Justice for such further action as it deems appropriate. The Committee concurs with the ISC’s determination that Representative Santos’ conduct warrants public condemnation, is beneath the dignity of the office, and has brought severe discredit upon the House.
From the report itself:
Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.
He blatantly stole from his campaign.
He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.
He reported fictitious loans to his political committees to induce donors and party committees to make further contributions to his campaign– and then diverted more campaign money to himself as purported “repayments” of those fictitious loans.
He used his connections to high value donors and other political campaigns to obtain additional funds for himself through fraudulent or otherwise questionable business dealings.
And he sustained all of this through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background and experience.
The report also notes that that Santos “continues to flout his statutory financial disclosure obligations and has failed to correct countless errors and omissions in his past FD Statements, despite being repeatedly reminded by the ISC and the Committee of his requirement to do so. The ISC also found that, despite his attempts to blame others for much of the misconduct, Representative Santos was a knowing and active participant in the wrongdoing. Particularly troubling was Representative Santos’ lack of candor during the investigation itself.”
MAGA Mike doesn’t want him expelled because the GOP majority is too slim… so that will likely turn off even more Meembers sick if what the Republicans have turned the institution into. Wenesday evening House watchers Sarah Ferris, Olivia Beavers and Jordain Carney reported “Republicans cannot agree on basic policy priorities or even fund the government without a majority of Democratic votes. Individual lawmakers are going rogue on the House floor with theatrical efforts to censure colleagues and impeach members of the Biden administration. A growing number of lawmakers are choosing to retire because they feel it’s impossible to get anything done. Amid months of intra-GOP drama, this week stands out: Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was accused of kidney-punching one of his detractors. House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) lashed out at a Democratic colleague, calling him a ‘liar’ and a ‘smurf.’ Then on Wednesday, conservatives blocked another GOP spending bill, forcing Speaker Mike Johnson to send members home early on a losing note. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), who compared Republicans’ infighting to grade school bullying, said Johnson was doing his best with the party’s slim margins, but the party is still a mess. ‘It’s the same clown car with a different driver,’ Armstrong said. And unless the GOP could figure out a way to regain control of the floor, he warned: ‘We essentially don’t have the majority.’”
Adding to the boiling tensions, House conservatives on Wednesday tanked another appropriations bill that they described as weak— and took a victory lap just after Johnson was forced to cancel votes and send members home through Thanksgiving.
“We’ve had enough. We’re sending a shot across the bow,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-PA) told reporters after the vote, flanked by a half-dozen other [fascists].
Perry was one of many hardliners who took aim at fellow Republicans on Wednesday, demanding Johnson show them a wholesale plan to cut spending rather than resurrecting individual bills that keep floundering on the floor. They urged the speaker to prove that he is willing to fight for conservative priorities, many of which are DOA with the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House.
“One thing. I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing. One. That I can go campaign on and say we did. One,” conservative Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said in a floor speech Wednesday. (Democrats wasted no time in turning his statement into campaign fodder.
Several hardliners telegraphed the spending move beforehand, warning there would be payback for Johnson’s bipartisan spending bill to avoid a shutdown earlier this week. That threat immediately drew concerns from Republicans across the party, who worried about what it meant for the rest of their time in the majority— including the next spending deadline on Jan. 19.
…The conservative tactics could easily backfire, many members point out. Some Republicans predict if they can’t get a bill to the floor on their own, it will lead to GOP centrists leapfrogging their ultra-conservative colleagues and cutting deals with Democrats. And Republicans essentially have only two months to figure it all out.