(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives on Friday voted to expel Republican Rep. George Santos, a historic move that hasn’t happened in more than 20 years.
Santos, scandal-ridden since arriving in Washington nearly a year ago, is just the sixth House member in history to be removed by his colleagues.
They voted to do so despite Santos, while indicted, not being convicted of a crime — what he and his supporters argued in making the case against expulsion. Santos has pleaded not guilty to 23 charges, which include wire fraud and money laundering, with a trial set for 2024.
The final vote to expel him was 311-114, with 112 Republicans voting with Democrats, far eclipsing the two-thirds majority threshold needed. Speaker Mike Johnson, who just before the vote announced his opposition, presided over the tally.
“The whole number of the House is now 434,” Johnson said.
Santos left the chamber and the Capitol before the final vote was announced, swarmed by reporters as he jumped in a waiting car.
His removal comes two weeks after a scathing House Ethics Committee report detailed what investigators said was Santos’ use of campaign funds for his own personal benefit. Santos repeatedly criticized the report as political smear, though he did not refute specific allegations.
Momentum grew to oust Santos after the report’s publication, but at one point earlier Friday it appeared House Republican leaders might be able to save him.
Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and No. 3 House Republican Elise Stefanik all said they would be voting against the resolution just moments before it reached the floor.
“No Member of Congress has ever been expelled without a conviction; this is a dangerous precedent and I am voting no based upon my concerns regarding due process. I have said from the beginning that this process will play out in the judicial system which it currently is,” Stefanik wrote in a post to X.
Rep. Darrell Issa told ABC News ahead of the vote it was a coin toss whether Santos survived.
“If I were going to handicap it, I’d give him slightly better than 50-50,” Issa predicted.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., was dismayed by the vote, saying Congress is a “political body, not a judicial body” — given that Santos hadn’t been convicted of a crime.
ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent asked Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., if Santos’ expulsion sets a new precedent.
“The precedent is that we are holding members of Congress to a higher standard,” he said.
During an hour of spirited debate on the House floor Thursday, Santos continued to argue he was denied due process.
“Every member expelled in history of this institution has been convicted of crimes or Confederate turncoats guilty of treason. Neither of those apply to me, but here we are,” Santos said. “On what basis does this body feel that precedent must be changed for me? An American citizen, duly elected — elected to represent the 3rd district of New York.”
As they exited a conference meeting Friday morning, some Republicans echoed Santos’s defense that he has not been convicted and that the two most recent members to be expelled were first convicted.
“It doesn’t mean I’m claiming that he’s innocent or guilty, but that’s the way it’s always been done for the institution’s sake,” Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., said.
MORE: What happens next if GOP Rep. George Santos is expelled from Congress?
Republican Rep. Michael Guest, the chairman of the House Ethics Committee who also previously introduced a separate motion to expel Santos, made notably rare remarks to defend the report ahead of Friday’s vote.
“George Santos has built his persona, his personal and political life, on a foundation of lies,” Guest said.
Santos’ expulsion will present something of a political headache for House Republican leadership, which could be left with one fewer vote in their already narrow majority.
New York law gives Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, power to schedule a special election to fill Santos’ swing seat. Hochul has 10 days from being notified of a vacancy to announce a special election, which then has to take place within 80 days.
ABC News’ Arthur Jones, Benjamin Siegel, John Parkinson, Rachel Scott and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who forged a path for women in the law, championed ideological compromise and educated generations of Americans about the rights and duties of citizenship, has died.
The court announced her death in a statement Friday morning, citing “complications related to advanced dementia, probably Alzheimer’s, and a respiratory illness.” She was 93.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — With less than 50 days until the Iowa caucuses, former President Donald Trump’s campaign is making a major weekly six-figure advertisement buy in the Hawkeye State — marking one of the first times the campaign will go up on broadcast TV as the early GOP front-runner takes a big step in seeking to fend off his rivals.
In a preview of the two ads set to air in Iowa, first shared with ABC News, the campaign plans to attack President Joe Biden in one and tout Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ past praise of Trump in another.
Though Reynolds endorsed Trump during his previous presidential bids, their relationship has been on thin ice after Trump launched attacks on her during the summer for her once-held position of staying neutral in the Republican primary.
She endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis early this month, arguing she “cannot sit on the sidelines any longer” and calling him “the person that we need leading this country.” Her support gives DeSantis a potentially important boost in a state where he trails Trump by less than he does nationally.
The TV spot features a montage of Reynolds applauding Trump and his administration’s policies at previous rallies.
Additionally, as Trump continues to downplay the competitiveness of the Republican presidential primary — which he continues to lead by double digits, per 538’s average — in order to focus on a potential rematch against Biden, his campaign plans to tout Trump’s commitment to the military, depicting Trump as a strong leader.
A senior Trump official tells ABC News the new ad spending reflects Trump’s commitment to winning Iowa, where he has campaigned with much less fervor than his primary opponents. The former president will soon increase his campaign schedule in Iowa and other early voting states, including New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, the official said.
“Now we got to get out — we got to make sure, you know, we have to send a great signal,” Trump said at his recent rally in Fort Dodge, Iowa last weekend.
He will make his 15th visit to Iowa this weekend with two events in the state: one in Ankeny and one in Cedar Rapids. On the same day, DeSantis will complete his full 99-county tour of the entire state, known as the “full Grassley.”
(NEW YORK) — After more than 90 minutes of argument, insult, crosstalk and a few props, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom ended their debate on Fox News on Thursday night on a lighter note, trading compliments.
But much of what came before underlined their major differences (and different debate styles) on some of the biggest issues of the day, including abortion access, crime and public safety, the economy, immigration and more.
Sean Hannity moderated — often pleading with the two governors to spend less time talking over one another and more time answering his questions.
Here are seven takeaways from the faceoff, billed as “The Great Red vs. Blue State Debate,” though it also played out as one of the two participants is running for the White House and the other is discussed as a future presidential contender.
Newsom embraces role as Biden’s big defender
Throughout the evening, Newsom served essentially as a stand-in surrogate for the White House and its policies, frequently heaping praise on President Joe Biden’s economic agenda and defending him on border security as DeSantis hurled sharply worded attacks on how the administration has handled the cost of living and other problems.
At one point, DeSantis accused Newsom of running a “shadow campaign” for president in 2024 — a premise the California governor has vigorously rejected and gone to great lengths to dispute.
Asked by Hannity if he would say unequivocally he would not run in 2024 under any circumstances, Newsom quickly shot back, “Correct.”
“I don’t know how many times I can say it — just making this stuff up about a ‘shadow campaign,'” he said. “I appreciate and respect the work the president is doing, and the vice president. It’s the Biden-Harris campaign and team.”
To that end, Newsom at one point also interjected to correct DeSantis on pronouncing Kamala Harris’ first name, saying DeSantis should show more respect.
Speaking to reporters after the debate, Newsom emphasized that supporting the Biden campaign was a key part of his strategy going into Thursday night.
“I focused on defending and promoting, supporting, telling the truth about the Biden record. I was pleased to have that opportunity,” he said, adding that he felt the 90-minute back-and-forth was part of an anti-Biden “doom loop.”
2024 looms in the background
Fox News previewed the event as a debate between governors of two huge states with vastly different ideologies, but the presidential race remained central to the discussion.
Newsom at multiple points pointed out DeSantis’ gaping polling deficit in the Republican primary, where he trails front-runner Donald Trump, even in his own state, despite entering the race with much fanfare and widespread goodwill among conservatives.
“How’s that going for you, Ron?” Newsom asked after accusing the Florida governor of trying to “out-Trump Trump.”
DeSantis, for his part, charged that Newsom was trying to quietly run his own race for the Democratic nomination next year.
“He is in decline, yes,” DeSantis said of Biden. “It’s a danger to the country. He has no business running for president, and, you know, Gavin Newsom agrees with that. He won’t say that. That’s why he’s running his shadow campaign.”
Newsom accused DeSantis of “just making this stuff up.”
In one of the most notable jabs of the night, Newsom invoked DeSantis’ struggling campaign.
“One thing … that we have in common is: neither of us will be the nominee for our party in 2024,” he said.
Crosstalk and claims of lying
The debate was replete with moments of the two talking over one another for minutes on end while claiming that the other was lying.
“He’s been telling a lot of whoppers tonight,” DeSantis said an hour into the night.
On COVID-19, the governors battled for space to accuse each other of implementing harmful policies during the height of the pandemic.
“You had quarantines, you had checkpoints,” Newsom said at one point.
“False,” DeSantis fired back.
At one point in the exchange, all three men were speaking: DeSantis repeatedly asked Newsom why California was “closed,” Newsom recounted instances where DeSantis wore a mask and Hannity asked the governors to “let it breathe.”
The host at one point urged them not to force him to be a “hall monitor,” a plea that mostly went unheeded.
Elsewhere, Hannity noted how lively the debate was — though at another point he cracked that he wasn’t just a “potted plant” to be ignored.
To cap it all, the night ended awkwardly, with everyone involved appearing to agree to extend the debate for 20 more minutes until the end of the second hour. Fox News went to commercials on that tease, but when the programming returned, Hannity informed viewers that actually the governors “had other commitments” and the debate was over.
‘This is pornography’
Perhaps one of the most spirited conversations of the night came amid the discussion of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act — frequently referred to by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, though its supporters say it’s about shielding children from inappropriate topics.
DeSantis has campaigned on and avidly supported the legislation, which widely restricts discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in K-12 classrooms when not deemed appropriate.
At one point in the debate, during his defense of the law, DeSantis — in apparent violation of the debate’s rule against props — pulled out a photo from the graphic novel “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” which depicted a scene of oral sex.
“Some of it is blacked out. You would not probably be able to put this on air,” DeSantis said, adding that it was not consistent with Florida’s standards. “This is pornography. It’s cartoons. … This should not be in schools.” (Another prop he brought out later was to illustrate a point about San Francisco; he said the map showed all the places where feces was seen on the streets.)
DeSantis also said that schools should “educate kids, not indoctrinate kids.”
Newsom shot back that DeSantis was using the law to wage a culture war as DeSantis disputed how many books have been banned in his state.
Newsom said: “1,406 books have been banned just last year under Ron DeSantis’ leadership. I love that he keeps pulling this out. I’ve seen this. He’s been doing this all over the campaign.” He went on to accuse the Florida governor of using “education as a sword for your cultural purge.”
Newsom then invoked some of California’s own history, referencing the 1978 state “Briggs initiative,” a ballot measure that proposed banning gay and lesbian people from teaching which Newsom called “the original ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.”
The proposition failed, in part, because of opposition from then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.
Addressing DeSantis, Newsom said, “I don’t like the way you demean the LGBTQ community. I don’t like the way you demean and humiliate people you disagree with Ron. I really find this fundamentally offensive.”
Comparing public safety
When the debate turned to crime in the U.S., Hannity pulled statistics from the FBI that showed the combined national rate of homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault in 2022.
When the combined rate was shown for DeSantis and Newsom’s respective states, Florida was lower than the national average — while California was above it.
Asked about California’s crime rate, Newsom highlighted that the state has its lowest crime rate in 50 years.
Newsom also pointed out the murder rate, which was not mentioned in the provided statistics, stating that Florida has a higher murder rate than California.
He then invoked the Parkland, Florida, school shooting where 17 kids were killed, arguing DeSantis later made it easier for some people to purchase weapons, referencing legislation the Florida governor signed earlier this year that allows Floridians to be able to carry concealed guns without a permit.
Newsom also quoted Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jaime, died in the shooting and who called DeSantis “weak” and “pathetic” for signing the recent gun legislation.
DeSantis responded to Newsom, calling him a “slick politician” and redirected attention back to California’s high crime rate.
“People are leaving California in droves, largely because public safety has collapsed,” DeSantis said.
‘Lying to migrants’?
As the two sparred over immigration and border management, Newsom accused DeSantis of luring migrants under false pretenses by offering jobs and housing — an accusation stemming from DeSantis’ efforts to organize flights for migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
His office organized similar flights to Sacramento, California, over the summer.
“That kind of gamesmanship, using human beings as pawns, I think is disqualifying,” Newsom said.
DeSantis shot back repeatedly that Newsom was spouting false information, arguing that Martha’s Vineyard had claimed to be a sanctuary jurisdiction.
“We’ve got a lot of elites who want open borders, who lecture everybody else about it, then the minute they have to deal with any of the consequences, oh man, all hell breaks loose,” DeSantis retorted.
Newsom claimed that he was only making such moves for media attention.
“You’re trolling folks and trying to find migrants to play political games,” Newsom said.
Dueling views on abortion restrictions
Hannity pressed Newsom on abortion, asking the California governor if he supports any restrictions on it, particularly in the third trimester of pregnancy, after the fetus is viable.
Newsom avoided answering the question while noting that such procedures are very rare and usually in cases like fetal abnormalities. Instead, he focused on DeSantis’ signing a six-week abortion ban, which he called “extreme.”
Hannity continued to press Newsom to answer the original question and eventually turned to DeSantis, asking the Florida governor what his reasoning was for signing a six-week abortion ban instead of maintaining the 15-week ban previously in place in Florida. DeSantis said it was because he believes in a “culture of life.”
“I think we’re better off when everybody counts, when everybody has an opportunity to do well,” he said.
Newsom cut in and asked DeSantis if he would support a national abortion ban as president. DeSantis did not answer.
(WASHINGTON) — On the brink of possibly being expelled from Congress, embattled Rep. George Santos defended himself during an hourlong debate on the House floor Thursday.
Santos, who is facing his third expulsion vote this year on Friday, debated several lawmakers, including fellow Republicans arguing for his removal, calling him a “total fraud and serial liar.”
Santos and his supporters — who included Republican Reps. Troy Nehls, Clay Higgins and Matt Gaetz — argued that the New York congressman’s expulsion would set a dangerous precedent and is not reflective of the wishes of the voters who elected him.
“Every member expelled in history of this institution has been convicted of crimes or Confederate turncoats guilty of treason. Neither of those apply to me, but here we are,” Santos said. “On what basis does this body feel that precedent must be changed for me? An American citizen, duly elected — elected to represent the 3rd district of New York.”
Santos’ expected expulsion vote comes after a damning report from the House Ethics Committee detailing what investigators said was his use of campaign funds for his own personal enrichment. Santos on Thursday again criticized the panel’s work, calling the report “slanderous.”
In a rare floor speech, Republican Rep. Michael Guest, chairman of the House Ethics Committee, detailed the report’s “shocking” findings and knocking down Santos’ claims that it was biased and hastily produced. Guest filed a resolution to expel Santos earlier this month.
New York GOP Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro — who have been leading the charge to oust their colleague — urged the chamber to remove him from Congress.
“George Santos is not the person he offered to voters. He didn’t work where he said he did. He didn’t go to school where he said he did. He’s far from rich. He isn’t Jewish. And his mother was not in the south tower during 9/11,” LaLota said. “So, the argument that New Yorkers voted George Santos in, and that we should wait until November of 2024 for voters to decide his fate, is inherently flawed, since voters weren’t given a chance … in the first chance to determine who they were actually voting for.”
Nehls said Santos shouldn’t be expelled because in the United States “everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”
“Kicking out Mr. Santos is setting a very dangerous precedent. Never before has Congress expelled a member based on indictments,” he said. “…So, why today would we remove a member from this House based on an indictment? It’s never been done before. It shouldn’t happen today.”
Higgins, dismayed by the precedent he said the expulsion will set, called Friday’s vote “egregious.”
“Step back from this egregious act that you have threatened,” he said. “Reflect upon the American people that we serve the oath that we have sworn, and allow the people of New York to cast their vote as they see fit.”
D’Esposito advocated for Santos’ expulsion, saying it’s time to rethink the standard to which elected officials are held.
“We have an opportunity in this great institution to start a new precedent, one that means we hold members of the house of representatives to a higher standard, ladies and gentlemen,” D’Esposito said “… And I hope that tomorrow in this great chamber we set that precedent, Mr. Speaker. We set a precedent that we as members of America’s oldest institution are held to a higher standard.”
Santos’ effort to expel Rep. Jamaal Bowman
Earlier Thursday, Santos introduced a privileged resolution calling for Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman to be expelled for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor for pulling a fire alarm before the House voted on a spending measure to avert a government shutdown in September.
In a Thursday morning news conference, Santos — who has been scandal-ridden since arriving in Washington earlier this year and is facing federal charges — aired his grievances against Bowman.
“I think that that’s consistency. Let’s hold our own accountable but let’s make sure we do it with the precedent of the House,” Santos said.
The House Ethics Committee, which released that scathing report on Santos, declined to investigate Bowman for pulling the fire alarm. After his court appearance, Bowman told ABC News, “I regret Capitol Police resources needed to be used to respond to that. I’m glad no one was hurt.”
In a statement Thursday morning, Bowman slammed Santos.
“No one in Congress, or anywhere in America, takes soon-to-be former Congressman George Santos seriously,” Bowman wrote. “This is just another meaningless stunt in his long history of cons, antics, and outright fraud.”
‘This is bullying’
Santos addressed reporters outside the Capitol and called the renewed effort to oust him representative of the “chaos” in Congress. He continued to insist he will not resign.
“If I leave, they win,” Santos said. “If I leave, the bullies take place. This is bullying.”
“It’s theater for the cameras,” the New York Republican added. “It’s theater for the microphones. It’s theater for the American people at the expense of the American people because no real work is getting done.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that members can “vote their conscience” but also expressed “real reservations” about the process given Santos has not yet been convicted.
In a news conference Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies called Santos a “serial fraudster” and “a national embarrassment” but called the vote to oust him an “issue of conscience” for House Democrats as well and said Democratic leaders are not advising members how to vote.
Santos highlighted that fact at his own press conference Thursday, telling reporters: “If I am to get expelled tomorrow, I will be number six in the history, the first Republican and the only one without a conviction or … without having committed treason.”
When asked if he expected the measure to pass, Santos said he “didn’t know,” but pointed to LaLota’s comments that he thinks there will be enough votes — 150 if all members are in attendance — in favor of expulsion.
“From what I understand, the way I’m looking at this, is Congressman LaLota said he has 150 votes. So I mean, if he has 150 votes, as he said already on the record, he has the votes. This is just plain and simple,” Santos said.
Santos said he would not be asking members to come to his defense ahead of the vote.
Facing possible removal, Santos said “whatever comes my way, I have the desire to stay very much involved in public policy” and said he “won’t rest until I see Donald Trump back in the White House.”
ABC News’ Jay O’Brien and Arthur Jones contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — If an expulsion vote set for Friday achieves a two-thirds majority, Republican Rep. George Santos would be immediately expelled from the House of Representatives, according to the text of the expulsion resolution.
Looking back at the last time a member of Congress was expelled — Ohio Democratic Rep. James Traficant back in 2002 — Santos would immediately lose most of his privileges – such as the use of Capitol facilities, the power to speak or vote on the House floor and any access to equipment or other technology provided by Congress — such a cell phones or a personal computer.
In the aftermath of Traficant’s expulsion, House officials sent him a letter informing him of the expulsion, according to reports at the time.
Santos would likely receive similar notification directing him to clear out his belongings from the House Clerk, which would take over control of his office – serving New York’s 3rd Congressional District until the seat is filled after a special election.
Santos’ staff — the ones that haven’t resigned — would continue serving the district under the direction of the House Clerk until a new member is elected and sworn into office.
But as a former member, Santos would still retain his ability to access the House floor at his own discretion — although he has expressed uncertainty about whether he’d exercise his life-long floor privileges in the future.
“I don’t know,” Santos told reporters at a pen and pad briefing in his office Thursday afternoon. “Not in the near future, I don’t believe.”
Former members rarely take advantage of that privilege, but at times former Florida Rep. Joe Scarborough, who served three terms in the House before embarking on a career in television, pops up on the House floor during the State of the Union address.
Former Georgia Republican Rep. Jack Kingston was on the House floor earlier this month during legislative business.
David Wu would also occasionally pop up in the chamber after he resigned in disgrace in 2011.
(WASHINGTON) — The House is no longer set to vote Thursday on a Republican effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The vote was pulled from the schedule Thursday afternoon, according to a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer.
It’s not clear yet why leadership pulled the resolution.
On Wednesday, Greene introduced the resolution — her second this month — to impeach Mayorkas because of his handling of the southern border. Greene said Mayorkas is failing to uphold his constitutional duty to protect states from what she called invasion and has accused him of high crimes and misdemeanors related to migrants and drugs crossing at the border.
A spokesperson for DHS dismissed Greene’s latest resolution as a “baseless attack.”
The move came after eight Republicans voted with Democrats to block Green’s impeachment effort earlier this month — referring it to the House Homeland Security Committee. Greene introduced similar articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in May, but House GOP leaders never brought them to a vote.
Greene said if her latest effort to impeach Mayorkas fails, she will “keep reintroducing it.”
ABC News’ Brittany Gaddy contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Joni Ernst choked on food during a closed-door Republican lunch on Thursday and was rescued by fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who performed the Heimlich maneuver on her.
Ernst, from Iowa, later said she was okay and confirmed a reporter’s account of the choking episode on X, replying to the reporter’s post describing what happened to her with a tongue-in-cheek caption
“Can’t help but choke on the woke policies Dems are forcing down our throats. Thanks, Dr.@RandPaul!” Ernst posted atop one from Politico reporter Burgess Everett describing the choking incident.
Paul is a medical doctor whose focus is in ophthalmology.
The Thursday Senate Republican lunch is hosted by a different senator each week, and usually showcases food from the hosting senator’s home state.
Thursday’s lunch was hosted by Ernst.
GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, Ernst’s Iowa colleague, posted a photo of the two of them holding up chops of steak from the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association.
(WASHINGTON) — Embattled Rep. George Santos spoke out Thursday ahead of an upcoming vote to expel him from the House of Representatives.
Santos, who has been scandal-ridden since arriving in Washington earlier this year and is facing federal charges, called the renewed effort to oust him representative of the “chaos” in Congress and continued to insist he will not resign.
“If I leave, they win,” Santos said as he addressed reporters at the House Triangle outside the Capitol. “If I leave, the bullies take place. This is bullying.”
“It’s theater for the cameras,” the New York Republican added. “It’s theater for the microphones. It’s theater for the American people at the expense of the American people because no real work is getting done.”
The expected expulsion vote, the third attempt to remove Santos this year, comes after a damning report from the House Ethics Committee detailing what investigators said was his use of campaign funds for his own personal enrichment. Santos on Thursday again criticized the panel’s work, calling the report “slanderous,” but declined to unpack details of it and offered no timeline on when he would do so.
Santos also took time to air out his grievances against other political figures, alleging there are other members with rap sheets of their own.
He announced he will introduce a privileged resolution to expel another member of Congress: New York Democrat Jamaal Bowman. Santos cited Bowman’s guilty plea to a misdemeanor for pulling a fire alarm before the House voted on a spending measure to avert a government shutdown in September.
After his court appearance, Bowman told ABC News, “I regret Capitol Police resources needed to be used to respond to that. I’m glad no one was hurt.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said a vote on the expulsion resolution would occur Friday. Johnson said members can “vote their conscience” but also expressed “real reservations” about the process given Santos has not yet been convicted.
Santos highlighted that fact at his press conference Thursday, telling reporters: “If I am to get expelled tomorrow, I will be number six in the history, the first Republican and the only one without a conviction or … without having committed treason.”
When asked if he expected the measure to pass, Santos said he “didn’t know,” but pointed to New York Republican Nick LaLota’s comments that he thinks there will be enough votes — 150 if all members are in attendance — in favor of expulsion.
“From what I understand, the way I’m looking at this, is Congressman LaLota said he has 150 votes. So I mean, if he has 150 votes, as he said already on the record, he has the votes. This is just plain and simple,” Santos said.
Santos said he would not be asking members to come to his defense ahead of the vote.
Facing possible removal, Santos said “whatever comes my way, I have the desire to stay very much involved in public policy” and said he “won’t rest until I see Donald Trump back in the White House.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration has announced a proposal to “strengthen its Lead and Copper Rule that would require water systems to replace lead service lines within 10 years,” the White House said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the White House, more than 9.2 million American households connect to water through lead pipes and lead service lines and, due to “decades of inequitable infrastructure development and underinvestment,” many Americans are at risk of lead exposure.
“There is no safe level of exposure to lead, particularly for children, and eliminating lead exposure from the air, water, and homes is a crucial component of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic commitment to advancing environmental justice,” the Biden administration said.
“The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests over $50 billion for the largest upgrade to the nation’s water infrastructure in history, and today’s action builds on these historic levels of funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, to replace lead service lines across the nation,” the statement continued.
The proposal would also aim to increase tap water sampling requirements, require water systems to complete comprehensive and publicly available lead service line inventories and strengthen and streamline requirements for water systems to take additional actions to reduce lead health risks to communities.
“This proposal advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan, a whole-of-government approach to reduce all sources of lead exposure,” the White House said.
During the 2023 fiscal year alone, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed 49 cleanup projects that addressed lead contamination where it posed risks to people’s health around the country.
Lead is the environmental contaminant most commonly reported to the EPA, according to the White House.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is working to ensure a future where every child and family can live safely in their communities without the fear and harmful effects of lead exposure,” said the White House.
