Even though the House GOP leadership is staying quiet, a veteran Republican lawmaker said Sunday that George Santos should think about quitting after the New York congressman-elect admitted to lying about his background, education, and work history.
Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, who has been in Congress for 25 years and was once chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday” that Rep. Santos would have to “take some huge steps” to win back the trust and respect of the people in his district. On Tuesday, when the new Congress starts, Santos will be sworn in.
“There are so many things wrong with this. “He’s lied many times, for sure,” said Brady, who is leaving the House. “He will have no choice but to think about leaving.” Brady said that a decision on whether or not Santos resigns is one “between him and the people who voted for him.”
Santos, who is 34 years old, was elected to the 3rd Congressional District in November. This district includes some suburbs on Long Island and a small part of the borough of Queens in New York City. He was the first openly gay Republican who wasn’t already in Congress to win a seat there. But just a few weeks after helping Republicans win a razor-thin majority in the House, Santos is now being investigated for making up large parts of his life story. The money he spent on his campaign is also being looked at.
He hasn’t shown any sign of giving up. Last week, Santos was asked about the “blatant lies” on Fox News. He said that he had “made a mistake” in his answer.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, who is the most powerful Republican in the House and is running to be House speaker now that the GOP will have the majority, has not said what, if any, action he might take against Santos.
Brady said that if he was in charge of a committee where Santos was supposed to serve, “he would not be on the committee right now.”
Last month, The New York Times did an investigation of Santos’s resume and found a number of major mistakes. This made people start to wonder about him. Since then, Santos has said that he lied about having Jewish ancestry, working for Wall Street banks, and going to college.
Democrats are likely to go after Santos in a number of ways, including filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and introducing a resolution to kick him out of Congress once he’s already there.