New York Rep. George Santos has been expelled from Congress. The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to remove the first-term lawmaker from office. He is the sixth member of Congress in history to be expelled.

Santos has been facing intense criticism since he was first elected. He faced numerous accusations that he lied about his resume and background during the campaign and has been charged with multiple federal crimes.

Santos is currently facing 23 federal charges, including fraud related to COVID unemployment benefits, misusing campaign funds, and providing false information on his House disclosure reports. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Despite all the criticism and the federal charges, Santos has maintained his innocence and refused to resign.

While two previous attempts to oust Santos failed, the final straw for many lawmakers was a scathing report from the Ethics Committee. The report detailed "substantial evidence" that Santos allegedly "violated federal criminal laws."

It concluded that Santos "sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit" and "knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission."

After the report was released, Santos announced he would not seek reelection.

However, that did not stop lawmakers from filing another resolution to remove him from office.

The final vote was 311-114.

Now that Santos has been expelled, New York Governor Kathy Hochul must declare a special election within ten days. The election must take place within 70 to 80 days of her announcement.

Bill Cunningham