House Democrats plan to force vote on censuring Rep. George Santos

Washington — House Democrats plan to force a vote on censuring Republican Rep. George Santos of New York for repeatedly lying about his background, two months after a previous Democratic-led effort to expel him from Congress failed.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, plans to introduce the resolution as "privileged," a designation under House rules that require a floor vote within two legislative days. He said the "likely timeline" to bring up the measure through the expedited process is before the August recess.

"Public censure is the least that we can do to hold George Santos accountable," Torres told reporters, accusing Republicans of trying to shield the Republican lawmaker from accountability because they need his vote with a slim majority. "The reality is that the Republicans need George Santos and are doing everything they can to protect him." 

Censure is essentially a formal public reprimand by the House to punish misconduct that falls short of warranting expulsion. The censured member typically must stand on the House floor as the resolution detailing his or her offenses is read aloud.

A three-page draft of the resolution obtained by CBS News lists a number of falsehoods Santos has told about his education, career and family. Among the falsehoods listed in the resolution are that his grandparents survived the Holocaust, his mother died in the 9/11 terror attacks and that he helped produce the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." 

Santos said the push to censure him shows Democrats "have completely lost focus on the work they should be doing." 

"It is time to stop the political ping-pong and get real work done," he said in a statement Monday. 

Democrats tried to expel Santos in May after he was charged in a 13-count federal indictment accusing him of fraud, money laundering and other crimes. Republicans blocked the effort by voting to refer the matter to the House Ethics Committee, which opened a formal probe into Santos in March, giving vulnerable GOP members cover from being forced to go on the record with their position on whether the indicted congressman should keep his seat. 

Santos has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and has announced he will run for reelection next year.

Unlike expulsion, which needs two-thirds support, a censure vote requires a simple majority. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he wanted the Ethics Committee to move quickly in determining whether Santos should be disciplined, but Democrats have grown impatient, especially after Republicans voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff last month. 

Republicans sought to punish Schiff, a California Democrat, for his role in the congressional investigations of former President Donald Trump. He was the 25th House lawmaker in U.S. history to be censured. 

On Monday, McCarthy criticized Democrats for not allowing the Ethics Committee process to play out. 

"They have brought this up numerous times. This is their entire agenda," he told reporters. "We don't get involved within the Ethics Committee. These are individuals who will do their job and get their work done and follow through on whatever they need to find." 

Torres said it's possible Republicans could move to table the censure resolution as they did with the expulsion measure, but questioned why GOP members who have condemned Santos' behavior, with some even calling on him to resign, wouldn't support his censure. 

"The American people have a right to know where those Republicans stand," he said. "Is their outrage manufactured or is it coming from a place of sincerity? And the only way to know is voting." 

Without a vote on the resolution, he said, "all those calls for resignation and all those words of outrage are as hollow as George Santos himself." 

Nikole Killion contributed reporting. 

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• George Santos
• United States House of Representatives

Caitlin Yilek

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hausofcait

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