Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has announced that he won't seek re-election to a second term, but he could spark chaos within the House to avoid expulsion.
The House Ethics Committee issued a damning report last week that found Santos had engaged in “uncharged and unlawful conduct” that goes beyond the criminal allegations already pending against him, and that panel's chairman, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), and American Enterprise Institute researcher Kevin Kosar wondered how – and whether – he would exit the chamber.
"How will Santos respond to that vote once he knows it is coming?" Kosar wrote. "He could go gently into the night. He might give a farewell speech like Ohio Democrat James Traficant did in 2002 after he got the boot. Or Rep. Santos instead might torch the House. Specifically, what if he demanded recognition the moment the House of Representatives restarted and raised a question of privilege to vacate the speakership?"
Motions to vacate are privileged, so that would cut ahead of other legislative business for a vote, and there's nothing really stopping Santos from tossing a procedural bomb.
"He feels betrayed and scorned," Kosar said. "Santos has every reason to fight and keep up the act that he is a victim. Additionally, vacating the Speaker would delay the vote on his own expulsion— no Speaker means the GOP would leave the floor to huddle in conference and figure out who is in charge. And if past is prologue, that could take a while. Not to be forgotten is that pulling this maneuver would be sweet revenge on his party for scorning him."
"And, obviously, trying to vacate the chair would make for great theater, and Santos is all about drama," he added.
Kosar doesn't see Republicans voting to remove newly elevated House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), but he said Democrats might be eager to dump the election denier and apparent Christian nationalist – but ultimately the speaker has the procedural power to stave off that challenge.
"The prospect of George Santos temporarily shutting down the House to save his own hide is a troubling one," Kosar wrote. "Thankfully, after further thought and consultation with a maven of House legislative procedure, I found peace. No, Rep. Santos can’t torch the House. Sure, he can try, but it would fail."
