House Republicans now say they 'shouldn't have expelled Santos': report

Republicans in the House of Representatives are now expressing regret about giving the boot to disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

Santos -- the scandal-plagued New York Republican who lied about nearly every major aspect of his life and who is facing felony charges ranging from wire fraud, money laundering, making false statements to Congress, and theft of public funds -- was expelled in an overwhelming vote late last year on a bipartisan basis.

The GOP on Tuesday lost Santos' seat in a special election in the district won by Democrat Tom Suozzi, and Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman reports that many House Republicans are now saying they "shouldn't have expelled Santos" on the grounds that it cost them a seat in a narrowly divided Congress.

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In fact, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) piped up in the replies to one of Sherman's tweets to express this exact view.

Sherman says that Republicans have many scapegoats for the debacle, however, and not just those who supported kicking Santos out of Congress.

"A healthy round of finger pointing this morning among Republicans here on Capitol Hill this morning about NY3," he writes. "So far I've heard: People say the Nassau County GOP machine is useless after supporting Pilip and Santos; people blame the leadership; people blame Pilip herself for hiding out and not raising enough cash."