WASHINGTON – A group of about a dozen citizens from New York’s 3rd Congressional District traveled to Washington on Tuesday to demand that congressman, Republican George Santos, resign or be expelled from the House of Representatives.
“Santos has admitted to lying. Every day the press finds more lies,” Jody Kass Finkel, founder of a group called Concerned Citizens NY-03, said at a press conference outside the Capitol. “Santos is a liar, and now he’s trying to get a $174,000 congressman’s salary and benefits.”
After winning the election in November, Santos insisted that he had lied about many aspects of his personal biography, including his academic credentials, work history and ancestry.
Santos has resigned from the DPR committee due to controversy. Finkel and several members of her group said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) should hold a vote to expel Santos from the chamber.
Reps Ritchie Torres and Daniel Goldman, two New York Democrats who have tried to take as much attention to themselves as possible amid the controversy, joined the press conference to amplify the group’s call for ouster.
“We know George Santos is not going to resign on his own. He’s made more money in Congress than he’s ever made legally,” Goldman said. “What is his incentive to resign? This must come from above.
Under the Constitution, the House can expel members with a two-thirds majority vote — something the House has not done since 2002, when lawmakers voted to remove Rep. James Traficant (D-Ohio) after he was convicted of racketeering. , bribery and fraud. McCarthy recommended Santos not face punishment unless charged with a crime.
Finkel and his group chartered a bus to travel to Washington on Tuesday morning and plan to return to New York in the afternoon. No one in Concerned Citizens NY-03 said they voted for Santos.
Ben Marzouk, a Republican neighbor of Finkel’s, said it hurt that Santos lied to his mother at the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Marzouk remembers being a block away from the twin towers when the planes hit, as well as the many funerals the community held in the week- next week.
“To say that your mother was a part of that, you have to be psychologically disturbed to throw away like a nickel,” Marzouk said. “Mr. McCarthy, do the right thing. Get him out.”