NY Republicans re-up call for Santos to resign after committee recusal

Two New York GOP House members re-upped their call for Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) to resign from his seat following his announcement that he will step back from his committee assignments amid the controversies surrounding his finances and false statements about his background. 

Reps. Nick LaLota and Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) — like Santos, both first-term lawmakers — said in a statement on Tuesday that his announcement that he is recusing himself from the House Small Business Committee and the House Science, Space and Technology Committee is a “classic case of someone quitting right before they were going to get fired.” 

“While we, and the overwhelming percentage of Long Islanders we represent, are relieved to see that Santos will not be undeservedly sitting on committees, he should still do the right thing and resign. That is what is in the best interest of his constituents and House Republicans,” they said. 

Santos announced his plans in a GOP conference meeting on Tuesday amid the criticism he has faced from Democrats and some Republicans over the wide range of false statements he has made about his personal, professional and educational background as well as probes into possible campaign finance violations. 

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said Santos told his Republican colleagues that he would temporarily leave his committee assignments until “things get settled.” 

D’Esposito was the first GOP House member to call on Santos to resign, saying that the trust between Santos and his constituents was “irreparably broken.” LaLota has said Santos should step down because of his “outrageously substandard conduct.” 

Santos has admitted to embellishing parts of his résumé but also denied lying and asserted that he plans to continue to serve his term. 

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said last week that Santos would be removed from his office if an investigation from the House Ethics Committee concludes that he broke the law. 

Santos is under both federal and local investigations.