OAN’s Avril Elfie
6:06pm – Monday, March 11, 2024
Democratic Rep. Richie Torres of New York said he plans to introduce new rules to prevent expelled former members from visiting the House chamber uninvited.
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Representative Torres (New York) announced on Friday that he would like to introduce a rule change in the House of Representatives that would strip removed members of the House of Representatives from floor privileges, following the appearance of former Representative George Santos (New York) in the state House of Representatives. Union.
This law is officially known as “Expulsion revoke duly guaranteed admission,” or abbreviated as the George Rule. The George Rule prevents voted-out members of the House from using any of their previous privileges to return to the floor.
In December, the House of Representatives voted 311-114-2 to expel Mr. Santos from Congress, thereby forcing his expulsion. He is the sixth member of Congress in history to be removed from office.
“Exiled Congressman George Santos embarrassed the United States Congress by attending last night’s State of the Union address,” Torres said in a statement. “Mr. Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis after a series of lies, criminal allegations, sideshows, and embarrassment on the national stage.”
The New York Democrat said he is introducing the rule because “we have to do better than this.”
“Please give me another example of someone being publicly fired from a job and leaving in absolute disgrace, but still retaining the right to come back to their old job as often as they like,” Torres’ statement said. . “I consider it a lifelong privilege to serve in Congress. I cannot allow anyone who makes a mockery of this institution to continue to hold office after being ousted.”
Torres expressed hope that his Republican colleagues would vote with him and approve the rules.
Santos is accused of defrauding donors, charging credit cards without authorization and fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits. These charges form the basis of his 23 criminal counts against him. The House Ethics Committee also accused him of “violations.”[ing] federal criminal law,” the damning report states.
The former Republican lawmaker’s trial is scheduled for September. He had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges. Nevertheless, Santos declared in December that a plea deal was “not off the table.”
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