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George Santos' trial is scheduled for September, but will he still be in office? [1]

['Daily Kos Staff']

Date: 2023-10-27  

Federal Judge Joanna Seybert announced Friday that Republican Rep. George Santos' fraud trial would begin Sept. 9, which is more than two months after New York holds its June 25 primary. Almost no one, with the possible exception of Santos, thinks he'll once again be his party's nominee for the 3rd District, but he faces a far more immediate threat to his political future.

Four fellow members of the Empire State's GOP House delegation―Anthony D'Esposito, Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, and Marc Molinaro―announced Thursday that they were introducing a resolution to force the House to decide in the coming week whether to expel Santos; two others, Nick Langworthy and Brandon Williams, also said earlier in the month that they wanted Santos thrown out of the House. Five of these representatives hold a seat that Joe Biden carried in 2020 (only Langworthy's 23rd is safely red), and they likely have the most to lose the longer Santos' scandals and antics make news.

Each of these New Yorkers voted with the rest of their GOP colleagues in May to table a similar resolution from California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia. However, Inside Elections' Jacob Rubashkin notes that these six Republicans and the 212 Democrats together would have just enough support to prevent the chamber from doing the same thing this time.

It would take a two-thirds vote to make Santos the first member of Congress to be booted by his colleagues since Ohio Democratic Rep. James Traficant in 2002, but other Republicans aren't so eager to end this dry spell. The 3rd District backed Biden 54-45 in 2020, and Democrats would have a strong chance to flip it in a special election and erode the GOP's tiny House majority still further. And sure enough, Speaker Mike Johnson declared Thursday that "George Santos is due due process [and] we have to allow due process to play out."

A special may be on the horizon even if Santos isn't expelled, though, as he could accept a plea deal with prosecutors that would almost certainly require him to resign. Under state special election law it would be up to party leaders in the district's two counties, Suffolk and Queens, to pick their respective nominees.

Santos' Democratic predecessor, former Rep. Tom Suozzi, may have the inside track in such a contest due to his ties to party leaders. Politico reported earlier this month that Suozzi has a stake in four summer camps owned by Jay Jacobs, who chairs both the state and Nassau County party; Suozzi also spent six years serving with 5th District Rep. Greg Meeks, who runs the Queens party, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who would likely have some influence over the nomination process.

Several candidates are challenging Santos for renomination, and it remains to be seen if GOP leaders have a preference for any of them.

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