Rep. Ritchie Torres to Introduce Resolution Censuring Rep. George Santos

Democrats in the U.S. House are once again attempting to censure Rep. George Santos, who has been caught in or admitted to numerous lies and is under federal criminal indictment.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, a gay Democrat from New York, plans to introduce the censure resolution Monday, NBC News reports. It will be privileged, a status that means action on it is required. “Once Torres calls for a vote on the measure, it must be voted on or ‘tabled’ (effectively killing it) within 48 hours,” NBC notes.

“If you are a member of Congress who has informally condemned Mr. Santos, then you should have no trouble formally censuring him,” Torres said, according to The New York Times.“He has disgraced the institution, and the institution should speak with one voice against his misconduct.”

Torres also tweeted about his intentions.

Censure doesn’t remove a member of Congress from office, but it stays on the member’s permanent record.

There was an earlier attempt to expel Santos, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, like Santos a Republican, deflected the effort by referring the matter to the House Ethics Committee. It has been more than 60 days since McCarthy promised that there would be quick action on this, Torres noted.

Santos, a gay man, has been caught lying about his education, work experience, and religious background. He falsely claimed that some of his employees died in the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, that his mother died as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and that his grandparents were refugees from the Holocaust.

He is facing federal criminal charges related to campaign finance and the collection of unemployment benefits. In May, a federal grand jury charged Santos with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the U.S. House, and one count of theft of public funds. He has pleaded not guilty.

Santos, who is in his first term, has announced he is running for reelection in 2024, though even some of his fellow Republicans have said he shouldn’t. He has consistently pushed back against his political adversaries and recently went so far as to liken himself to Rosa Parks, one of the most important figures in the 20^th-century Black civil rights movement.

The resolution reads as follows:

RESOLUTION

Censuring Representative George Santos.

Whereas Representative George Santos repeatedly lied to voters in his district, donors, and the American public during his campaign to be elected to Congress;

Whereas a number of Republicans in Congress have called on George Santos to resign due to his hurtful lies and mistruths that have broken the trust of his constituents;

Whereas George Santos lied about being a member of the Jewish faith during his Congressional campaign and deliberately misrepresented that his grandparents survived the Holocaust;

Whereas George Santos falsely claimed that his mother died during the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001;

Whereas George Santos deliberately misrepresented his educational background by falsely claiming he received a bachelor’s degree from Baruch College and a master’s degree from New York University;

Whereas George Santos falsely claimed he obtained a volleyball scholarship to his college;

Whereas George Santos deliberately misrepresented his employment background, inaccurately claiming he worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup;

Whereas George Santos falsely claimed that he founded an animal rescue charity that saved more than 2,500 dogs and cats;

Whereas George Santos deliberately misrepresented that 4 of his employees were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting;

Whereas George Santos falsely claimed that he helped produce the Broadway musical ‘‘Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’’;

Whereas George Santos deliberately misrepresented that he had a family-owned real estate portfolio of 13 properties;

Whereas George Santos admitted to committing crimes in Brazil by using a fake name and stolen checkbook to purchase items; and

Whereas George Santos failed to file his congressional financial disclosure reports as required by law: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That—

(1) Representative George Santos be censured;

(2) Representative George Santos forthwith

present himself in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure; and (3) Representative George Santos be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker.