One day after prosecutors announced a slew of new charges against Rep. George Santos, six of his fellow New York Republican lawmakers have apparently had enough.

The group, led by New York Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, is introducing a measure Wednesday to expel the embattled Republican lawmaker from Congress.

What You Need To Know

  • Six freshman Republican lawmakers are introducing a measure Wednesday to expel New York Rep. George Santos from Congress

  • Rep. Anthony D'Esposito introduced the bill alongside fellow New York GOP Reps. Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy and Brandon Williams, all of whom were elected alongside Santos last year
  • Santos called the move "disheartening" and a "dangerous precedent"

  • The move comes one day after prosecutors announced a slew of new charges against Santos, including allegedly charging tens of thousands of dollars to his donors' credit cards without their knowledge, stealing his family members’ identities and inflating his campaign finance reports to federal election authorities by hundreds of thousands of dollars

  • Expelling Santos from the House would require the support of two-thirds of its members, a potentially tricky proposition in a narrowly divided chamber

"Today, I’ll be introducing an expulsion resolution to rid the People’s House of fraudster, George Santos," D'Esposito wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

D'Esposito says the bill will be backed by fellow New York GOP Reps. Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy and Brandon Williams, all of whom were elected alongside Santos last year.

Further details on the measure are expected later Wednesday, D'Esposito said. Expelling Santos from the House would require the support of two-thirds of its members, a potentially tricky proposition in a narrowly divided chamber.

In a statement, Santos said it would set a "dangerous precedent" to expel him from Congress without being found guilty.

"Amidst this chaotic mix, more wrenches are being thrown, further complicating matters. It's disheartening to witness my colleagues prioritize their campaigns over the essential work that needs to be done," Santos said. "An expulsion of myself as a member of Congress before being found guilty from a criminal investigation will set a dangerous precedent. This will do nothing other than erase the voices of the electorate."

"Stay strong my fellow Americans, and trust that the process will unfold as it should. Together, we can overcome these challenges and forge a better future for all Americans," the beleagured congressman added.

After he was first indicted in May, the House voted along party lines to refer Santos' case to the Ethics Committee instead of ousting him. The other New York freshman Republicans supported that move, with D'Esposito saying at the time he only did so because there was not a two-thirds majority.

"There may not be two thirds vote here we'll find out. But the difference is you now have a guilty plea of his treasurer and a superseding indictment, laying out all the things that his treasurer pled guilty to," Lawler told Spectrum News. "And so as far as I'm concerned, there has been a process and it has been adjudicated, and now it's time for him to go."

Democrats slammed the effort as too little, too late.

“Aside from being late to the party, we have a pressing question for spineless New York Republicans whose own party has left the House speakerless in the midst of a toothless and gutless resolution: is your increasing vulnerability the reason that you’ve changed your tune since first having the opportunity to expel criminally-indicted George Santos back in May?” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Ellie Dougherty said in a statement. 

Another freshman New York congressman, Democrat Pat Ryan, doubted the effort to oust Santos would result in much of anything.

"At the moment that the Republicans had a chance to actually vote him out, to through their actions and deeds follow through on their promises, they failed to do it in a spineless way," Ryan told Spectrum News, adding he would "certainly" vote to expel. "I'm skeptical that this is anything other than more promises and words but not in deeds."

It's also unclear how the measure could move forward without a House speaker. Republicans met Wednesday to try and choose a path forward, with a majority of the caucus voting for Lousiana Rep. Steve Scalise. Scalise will now need to garner a majority of the whole House in a floor vote.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday unsealed new charges against Santos connected to allegedly charging tens of thousands of dollars to his donors' credit cards without their knowledge, stealing his family members’ identities and inflating his campaign finance reports to federal election authorities by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign," U.S. Attorney Breon Pearce said in a statement. "Santos falsely inflated the campaign’s reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen."

Santos is alleged to have stolen the personal identity and financial information of his campaign donors to make over $44,000 in charges over the course of eight months without their knowledge or approval. Often these donations exceeded federal campaign contribution limits, prosecutors said, so Santos would falsely list the money as coming from himself, relatives or other donors.

At one point, Santos allegedly charged $12,000 to a donor’s credit card and eventually transferred “the vast majority” of the money into his personal bank account.

Santos on Wednesday vehemently denied the charges, telling reporters he will not accept a plea deal.

“The answer is no. I will not take a plea deal,” he said. “I can prove my innocence.”

He also refused to resign and maintained that he is still running for reelection.