Speaker Johnson Expresses Concerns About Santos Removal

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday said he had “reservations” about setting a new precedent by expelling Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., before a conviction despite some “infractions” against House rules.

“What we’ve said as the leadership team is we’re going to allow people to vote their conscience. I think it’s the only appropriate thing we can do. We’ve not whipped the vote and we wouldn’t. I trust that people will make that decision thoughtfully and in good faith,” Johnson told reporters.

“I personally have real reservations about doing this, I’m concerned about a precedent that may be set for that. So, everybody’s working through that, and we’ll see how they vote tomorrow.”

Johnson spoke to Santos “at some length” during the holiday recess “about his options” regarding a third vote on Santos’ expulsion.

The conversation came after the House Ethics Committee released its scathing report that found substantial evidence of lawbreaking by the New York Republican.

Santos last week said he expected to be expelled from Congress and insisted he was “not going anywhere.”

“I know I’m going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor,” he said Friday night during a conversation on X Spaces. “I’ve done the math over and over, and it doesn’t look really good.”

The House Ethics Committee found Santos used campaign funds for personal purposes, such as Botox, purchases at luxury retailers and adult content site OnlyFans, then caused the campaign to file false or incomplete reports.

“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,” investigators wrote. They noted that he did not cooperate with the report and repeatedly “evaded” straightforward requests for information.