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“I’m not a fraud. I’m not a fake,” he added.

Privately, Santos has told local leaders he will not seek reelection in 2024, according to the Nassau County Republican Chairman Joseph G. Cairo Jr., who is in Santos’ district.

An ABC News journalist on Capitol Hill on Monday saw that a name plate for Santos has been put up next to his future office, although a Hill worker said that freshman representatives will not be able to access their offices until Tuesday.

After a New York Times report last month questioned significant parts of Santos’ biography — which had also been investigated by a local paper — further discrepancies have emerged.

Santos has now said he spoke incorrectly about attending Baruch College and working directly for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. In the latter case, he says that a firm he claimed employed him did business with those two companies.

A spokesperson for an elite private school in New York City, Horace Mann, contradicted Santos’ claim of attending the institution. IRS records undercut his past claim of running a charity and he has said conflicting things about his mother’s death, which he has linked to 9/11.

Santos told The New York Post last week that he didn’t actually own any property, despite identifying himself on Twitter last year as a “landlord.”

The New York Times further reported on Sunday that Santos’ mother, Fatima Devolder, was known by his friends as a cook and house cleaner, contrary to Santos’ claims that she worked as a finance executive.

An attorney for Santos, Joseph Murray, initially pushed back on the questions over his background as “defamatory,” claiming it was a biased smear. Murray has since referred ABC News to Santos’ press team, who has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Republican leaders Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik and Steve Scalise have remained silent on Santos and have not responded to ABC News’ inquiries.

However, a rules package released by the House GOP on Sunday would require the ethics committee to establish “a process to receive complaints directly from the public.” That could be notable in the context of Santos: If Republican leaders do not refer him to the committee themselves, the public could lodge complaints against him.

GOP leadership is also grappling with Tuesday’s vote to elect the next speaker of the House. Republicans will control the chamber with 222 seats and Kevin McCarthy of California will need 218 votes to win the gavel. Santos’ vote could make a difference.

Santos has been defended by some future colleagues, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. But other prominent Republicans have criticized him.

Retiring Texas Rep. Kevin Brady said on “Fox News Sunday” that he believes Santos “is going to have to consider resigning.”

“He’s got really two choices here … one, he can try to politically ride it out. We’ve seen that happen in Washington, D.C. Or he can take the tougher choice, which is, I think, look, own every lie that he’s made and apologize to everyone and anyone for as long as it takes,” Brady said.

Santos’ fellow New York congressman-elect Nick LaLota released a statement asking the ethics committee to investigate.

“House Republicans like me are eager to be sworn in and focus on our commitment to America and our respective districts. Yet over the last few weeks, I have heard from countless Long Islanders how deeply troubled they are by the headlines surrounding George Santos,” LaLota said last week.

“As a Navy man who campaigned on restoring accountability and integrity to our government, I believe a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement, is required,” he said.

Outgoing Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a former House member himself, told ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday that what Santos did “is unacceptable.”

“I don’t know whether you can go so far as to not seat him but certainly the ethics committee should deal with this, and he has to be held accountable for that,” Hutchinson said.

House members may be removed by expulsion, which would require a two-thirds vote. Democratic leaders have suggested such a move would rest with McCarthy. A majority of representatives could also censure Santos, or Republicans could keep him off committees — a major source of legislative power.

In a statement on Friday, the Republican Jewish Coalition criticized Santos for exaggerating his Jewish ancestry.

His campaign has said his maternal grandparents fled persecution during World War II and resettled in Brazil, though genealogical records show otherwise. Santos, who is Catholic, told The New York Post last week that he meant he was “Jew-ish” through his mother’s family.

“He deceived us and misrepresented his heritage. In public comments and to us personally he previously claimed to be Jewish. He has begun his tenure in Congress on a very wrong note. He will not be welcome at any future RJC event,” the group wrote.

ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Gabe Ferris, Lalee Ibssa, Aaron Katersky, Lauren Peller and Will Steakin contributed to this report.

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Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., a McCarthy critic, told Fox News on Monday that he anticipates “10 to 15” Republicans will vote against McCarthy during the first ballot, a number he suggested could rise in subsequent rounds.

“I think you’ll see on the second ballot an increasing number of members vote for a true candidate who can represent the conservative center of the conference, can motivate the base,” Good said.

In a conference call on Sunday, McCarthy said he would support lowering the threshold to trigger a vote to oust a speaker, sources said. During the call, he said he would accept allowing just five members to bring what is known as a motion to vacate, a tool that was used to help oust then-Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in 2015. Current GOP rules require half of House Republicans to support such a move before a vote is held.

Also, a rules package Republicans released on Sunday details expanded oversight of the Biden administration, which is a major conservative priority. Under the rules, once adopted, the House will establish a select committee on the COVID-19 pandemic to investigate the virus’ origins, the government’s response, the development of vaccines and treatments and corresponding mandates for federal employees.

The rules package also includes language for the creation of a select panel under the House Judiciary Committee to focus on “strategic competition” between the U.S. and China’s government as well as the “weaponization of the federal government,” a seeming reference to Republican criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of some figures like Donald Trump.

Still, McCarthy doesn’t yet appear to have the necessary support. The five lawmakers who have vowed to vote against him showed no signs of budging as of Monday, and nine other Republicans released a letter suggesting his compromises didn’t go far enough.

“Despite some progress achieved, Mr. McCarthy’s statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd,” the group wrote in a letter obtained by ABC News.

While McCarthy may be able to garner more backing during a closed-door conference meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, shortly before the speaker vote begins at noon, his detractors are boasting that they’ll be able to muster the necessary opposition to block him.

“We may see the cherry blossoms bloom in Washington, D.C. before a Speaker is elected,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a McCarthy critic, has said.

Those opposed to McCarthy may be able to deny or delay him the speakership, but they are drastically outnumbered by Republicans who say they support him, including Trump and other prominent lawmakers.

The group of so-called “only Kevin” members have said they won’t consider voting for anyone else.

A drawn-out speakership vote would make some history — and be a repeat of McCarthy’s 2015 speakership bid, which was sunk when McCarthy realized he didn’t have the support of a small but necessary group of Republicans.

The last time it took more than one ballot to elect a speaker was exactly 100 years ago, when Fredrick Huntington Gillet won out after nine rounds of votes.

The House can conduct no other business until it has selected its speaker. Some who are backing McCarthy stress this point: that a prolonged or chaotic speaker vote prevents Republicans from governing and implementing what they campaigned on.

There have been rumors that Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., McCarthy No. 2 and one of his supporters, could ultimately run for speaker. Multiple sources told ABC News that Scalise would be open to a speakership run if McCarthy’s candidacy becomes nonviable and that some in the GOP minority opposed to McCarthy have made it known to Scalise that they would support him.

Among more centrist members, talk has continued of finding a compromise candidate with Democrats — a possibility Democratic leadership has played down — if McCarthy can’t corral the necessary support within his own party.

“I will support Kevin McCarthy, but if we do get to that point, I do want the country to work and we need to govern. We can’t sit neutral; we can’t have total gridlock for two years,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told NBC News in November.

McCarthy is already residing in the speaker’s office on Capitol Hill as his party prepares to enter the majority. He was seen meeting there on Monday with some two dozen representatives, including those publicly opposed to him as speaker like Gaetz.

As Rep. Jordan walked into the McCarthy meeting he was asked if he would run for speaker if McCarthy couldn’t get the votes. “No,” he said. “I want to be chair of judiciary.” 

Asked by reporters earlier on Monday how he felt about the upcoming speaker vote, McCarthy replied: “Hope you all have a nice New Year’s.”

ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.

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Bowser notes that currently 25,000 people currently call downtown D.C. home. She says the city will “add 15,000 residents over the next five years and 87,000 more before it’s all said and done.” Currently, 92% of the central business district consists of commercial space, residential space only accounts for 8%. That’s according to Bowser’s Housing in Downtown Abatement Program, which the mayor’s office seeks to encourage a rise in new residential conversion projects.

CBRE, a global commercial real estate company that has studied office conversions, notes that only 218 office conversions were completed in the U.S. between 2016 to 2021 an average of 36 conversions a year. However, by early December 2022, CBRE says 42 buildings had been converted within the last year. Boston leads the market with 38 building conversions, San Francisco Peninsula with 28, and D.C. and Los Angeles were tied for third with 11 building conversions each. Many of the cities that out-ranked D.C., unlike Washington, don’t have to negotiate with the federal government as a landlord.

In December, in an effort to promote a reimagined downtown, Mayor Bowser announced the conversion of the old Vanguard building that headquartered the Peace Corps for decades. The building will be converted to the Elle Apartments and is expected to add 163 residential units when it opens in May 2024.

Bowser said in December, “We have seen how mixed-use communities are more resilient in the face of adversity. By converting vacant offices into homes, we can put these spaces back to productive use, add much-needed housing, and create a vibrant downtown where people live, work, and play.”

Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio said in December that the city’s downtown reimagination strategy has three key points: “Change the space, fill the space, and bring the people.”

Falcicchio added, “creating new housing in downtown will lead to a more vibrant neighborhood and a 24/7 economy. The Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize more conversions, and bring about more housing affordability and retail opportunities.”

D.C., which has over 20 million square feet of vacant office space, hopes that the Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize future residential transformations by offering tax relief to buildings that include at least 15% of total units to be affordable to 60% of people who qualify for the median family income threshold, which is $103,200 for a four-person family.

Bower’s historic third term as the first Black woman mayor to serve three consecutive four-year terms will be met by a new Congress and new GOP leadership. Despite D.C.’s lack of statehood, Bowser is vowing to continue to fight for Washington’s autonomy. At her swearing-in Monday, she noted, “as this new Congress starts, I promise to keep fighting for control over everything that we need in the district, protecting our bodily autonomy, the ability to tax and regulate our businesses, and to provide services to our justice-involved youth.”

The Office of Personnel Management, the chief human resources agency for the federal government, did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.

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(WASHINGTON) — With the 118th Congress set to begin Tuesday, House Republican leaders are out with their proposed rules for the new legislative session.

Committee chairs would have limited authority “to allow [non-governmental] witnesses to appear remotely at” proceedings under the new rules.

GOP leaders would also remove entry magnetometers, create a new select committee on the alleged “weaponization” of the DOJ and FBI, and more, per the new rules.

But for those changes to take effect, the House will need to pass the Republican majority’s rules package in what will be the chamber’s first order of business after electing a speaker, a process that could take longer than usual when Congress convenes Tuesday.

In what might be one of the most visible changes after the House approves the rules, McCarthy said he would promptly order magnetometers removed from outside the chamber. The Democrat-controlled House installed the devices at the chamber entrances in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to prevent weapons from being brought to the House floor.

They quickly became a lightning rod for some Republican lawmakers who would protest the additional security measures by walking around them altogether. Violators — like Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert, Andrew Clyde, and Jim Baird — faced fines of $5,000 to $10,000.

And the rules would create new select committees on everything from COVID-19 to U.S.-China competition and what Republicans claim is “the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”

The Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic would make a significant item on many Republicans’ wish lists a reality. According to the proposed rules, the committee would investigate COVID’s origins, “the impact of school closures on American children,” and the development of vaccines and corresponding federal mandates.

House Republicans are targeting President Joe Biden directly in at least two areas with their new rules. The package would allow the House to consider stripping the Internal Revenue Service of additional resources Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act made available to the agency last summer.

Additionally, the chamber would consider preventing non-emergency drawdowns from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a tool the Biden administration has regularly used amid rising gas prices in recent months.

Other federal employees could soon become targets of a GOP-controlled House. The proposed rules package would allow legislation to zero out a government official’s salary, cut specific government programs, or even fire specific federal employees. For a Republican Party with some members who championed the #FireFauci movement, this rule is a notable inclusion.

The House Committee on Ethics would face reform under the proposed rules, too. If the chamber passes the proposal, the committee would need to establish “a process to receive complaints directly from the public.”

That could be notable in the context of GOP Rep.-elect George Santos, who faces allegations that he fabricated much of his background. If Republican leaders do not refer him to the committee themselves, the public could lodge complaints against him, per the proposed rules.

The rules also permit the House speaker to recognize any member to read the Constitution aloud on the House floor until the end of February. It is a notable provision for a Republican leader who, in November, vowed his members would “read every single word of the Constitution aloud” on the first day of the new Congress.

Responding to the House GOP’s rule package, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said, “It is disappointing, but not surprising, that House Republicans have put forward a rules package that undermines mainstream values and furthers an extreme agenda.”

ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.

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