Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., on Friday became just the sixth member of the House of Representatives and the 21st member of Congress ever to be expelled.
Santos is facing 23 federal charges that include wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering and stealing thousands of dollars from his donors. He has pleaded not guilty.
In addition, the House Ethics Committee released a report earlier this month that found “substantial evidence” of wrongdoing, including that he used donor money to pay for vacations, Botox treatments and a subscription to a website known for hosting adult content.
Santos refused to resign from office and complained that expelling him, which his colleagues had tried unsuccessfully to do twice earlier, would violate a long-standing House precedent of only removing members who have been convicted of a crime or supported the Confederacy in the Civil War.
Here is a look at the previous five House members who were expelled:
James Traficant
The previous time the House expelled a member came 21 years ago when Rep. James Traficant, D-Ohio, was voted out by a 420-1 margin. Traficant was ousted in July 2002, two months after he was convicted of 10 counts of bribery, racketeering and corruption. He was later sentenced to eight years in prison, serving seven before being released.
Traficant died in 2014 at the age of 73 following a tractor accident on his family’s farm.
Michael Myers
In October 1980, Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers, D-Pa., became the first member of either chamber of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War.
A month earlier, Myers was convicted of accepting a $50,000 bribe from federal agents posing as representatives of Arab sheiks. Prosecutors said Myers had promised to introduce private immigration bills and take steps to allow the fictitious sheiks to enter and remain in the United States.
Six other members of Congress were also indicted and convicted in the same FBI sting operation, known as Abscam. Four resigned before facing expulsion votes, and two were convicted after their congressional terms had ended.
Myers was sentenced to three years in prison in the case. Last year, the former congressman was sentenced to another 2½ years in a separate ballot-stuffing case. Myers, now 80, pleaded guilty to charges related to bribing officials to pad the vote tallies of clients of his political consulting firm from 2014-18.
John Reid
John Reid’s expulsion from the House comes with an asterisk, as he had already resigned from Congress four months earlier.
A Missouri Democrat, Reid was voted out of the House in December 1861 for disloyalty to the Union. Reid was a volunteer aide to Missouri Gov. and Confederate Gen. Sterling Price.
He had only served in office for four months, from March to August of that year.
Henry Burnett
A Kentucky Democrat who served four terms in the House, Burnett was expelled one day after Reid, also for treason.
Burnett was a colonel in the Confederate army during the Civil War. He also presided over a sovereignty convention in Russellville, Kentucky, in 1861, where a Confederate government for the state was formed. Burnett went on to serve in the Confederate States Senate.
He died of cholera at age 40 in 1866, a year after the war ended.
John Clark
On July 13, 1861, John Clark, a Missouri Democrat, became the first member of the House ever to be expelled.
Clark was a brigadier general in the Missouri State Guard, and the week before he was removed from Congress, led his unit against Union fighters in the Battle of Carthage.
Clark went on to serve in both the Confederate States House and Senate.
Senate expulsions
The U.S. Senate has expelled 15 members in its history, with 14 being related to support for the Confederate rebellion.
The only other senator who was removed from office was William Blount, a Founding Father. One of Tennessee’s initial senators, he was expelled in 1797 for treason after he was accused of concocting a plot in which Creek and Cherokee Indians would help Great Britain attack Spanish Florida and Louisiana in order to transfer for those territories to the British.
Note: This article was updated to say Rep. George Santos has now been expelled from Congress.