Last Updated on December 2, 2023, 9:24 AM | Published: December 2, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — Three of Oklahoma’s five members of Congress voted to expel George Santos from the U.S. House of Representatives Friday.
Reps Stephanie Bice, Frank Lucas, and Tom Cole all voted to remove Santos immediately, going against Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s position against expulsion and joining an unusual moment of bipartisanship in Congress.
Reps Bice and Lucas have the main portions of Oklahoma City in their district after the state Legislature parcelled out sections of Oklahoma’s largest city in the last reapportionment.
Rep Cole’s south-central Oklahoma district has a small panhandle that takes in mostly Midwest City and Del City around Tinker Air Force Base.
The vote Friday was 311-114 in favor of immediate removal of the controversial New York representative, gathering votes from both Republicans and Democrats.
After a string of indictments by the Justice Department, and a damning report from the House Ethics Committee, members of Congress from both parties seemed to have seen enough.
“After the release of the report from the Ethics Committee, it is clear that George Santos is unfit to serve and should be removed from office,” Bice said in a prepared statement shortly before the vote. “George has betrayed the trust of his constituents who deserve honesty and transparency from their elected official.”
Oklahoma’s representatives of eastern Oklahoma, Reps Kevin Hearn and Josh Brecheen were among the 114 who voted against the resolution to expel.
The expulsion reduces the Republicans’ already slim majority to 221-213.
The governor of New York will now prepare for an election to fill that seat.
Indictment, ethics problems
Santos, formerly representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District, is the first member of Congress to be expelled without being first convicted of crimes. All others had either been from seceding Southern states that prompted the Civil War or had been convicted of significant crimes.
He is the sixth member of Congress to be expelled by a vote of the body.
However, he is under indictment from the Justice Department on 23 counts of Federal charges:
- Conspiracy
- Wire Fraud
- False Statements
- Falsification of Records
- Aggravated Identity Theft
- Credit Card Fraud.
And, a blistering report from the House Ethics Committee convinced enough of the members on both sides of the aisle to break precedent and vote for the ouster.
Santos has been caught making massive untrue claims about his ancestry and his history, essentially making up a false persona to fund-raise and run for office.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
