Santos in the spotlight as lawmakers eye third ouster vote

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) will find himself in the spotlight when the House returns to session this week, which could feature a third — and potentially successful — vote on his ouster.

Tuesday will mark the first time lawmakers are back in the Capitol since the House Ethics Committee released a damning report that said the embattled lawmaker “violated federal criminal laws.” The chair of that panel — Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) — introduced a resolution to expel Santos, and other lawmakers have said they plan to force a vote on the New York representative’s ouster this week.

Santos has acknowledged that his days in Congress are likely numbered, declaring during a conversation on X Spaces last week, “I know I’m going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor.” He is set to hold a press conference Thursday.

Also this week, the House will consider a resolution calling on Hamas to release all hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack, in addition to other legislation related to Israel and Iran.

On the other side of the Capitol, senators will continue talks on border security with hopes of a deal unlocking consideration of Ukraine aid. Republicans have demanded U.S. border security to move in tandem with funding for Kyiv.

Santos press conference, potential expulsion vote

Santos will come face-to-face with his congressional colleagues in the Capitol this week for the first time since the Ethics Committee published its scathing report into the New York Republican, significantly increasing calls for his ouster.

And a vote on expelling the embattled lawmaker could come as soon as this week.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who previously said he would submit a privileged resolution to expel Santos when the House reconvenes Tuesday, told Axios over the weekend that he would move to force a vote on ousting the New York Republican “the second that the House opens” Tuesday. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) also previously said he planned to force a vote on Santos’s expulsion.

If a lawmaker moves to force a vote on a resolution to expel Santos, the House must act on the measure within two legislative days.

Guest, the chair of the Ethics Committee, introduced a resolution to expel Santos one day after the panel released its report, which found that the first-term lawmaker “blatantly stole from his campaign,” using official funds for trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas, on botox and other cosmetic procedures, at the luxury brand Hermés and for purchases from OnlyFans, a subscription platform that is largely used for adult content.

Santos survived two expulsion attempts earlier this year, but after the Ethics report dropped, a handful of members previously against booting him from Congress said they will now back his ouster, bringing the chamber closer to the two-thirds majority needed to expel a sitting lawmaker.

Santos said Friday that he expects the next expulsion effort against him will be successful, telling listeners during a conversation on X Spaces, “I’ve done the math over and over, and it doesn’t look really good.” But he once again said he is “not going to resign” because “[if] I resign, I admit everything that’s on that report.”

Santos is set to hold a press conference Thursday. He announced the event hours after the Ethics Committee released its report in a social media post that began with the phrase “My year from Hell.”

Senate continues border talks to unlock Ukraine aid

The Senate this week will continue talks on a border security package as Republicans demand that immigration reform be attached to any legislation that includes funding for Ukraine.

Negotiations were in bad shape heading into the Thanksgiving recess. Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters before the break that talks were “not good” at the moment, and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said they were “not going well.”

Republicans want the talks to be focused on the border and decreasing the number of people crossing the border, while Democrats want their counterparts to also include measures that would allow individuals to immigrate into the country.

The talks come months after the White House unveiled a massive national security supplemental funding measure that includes roughly $61 billion for Ukraine.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told colleagues in a letter Sunday that border security negotiations continued through the holiday, while emphasizing the need for bipartisanship in the process.

“We will need bipartisan cooperation and compromise to achieve a reasonable, realistic agreement that both sides can support,” Schumer said.

However, the New York Democrat slammed the GOP border demands, arguing that they are the “biggest holdup” to passing a national security assistance package.

“This has injected a decades old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities. Democrats stand ready to work on common-sense solutions to address immigration, but purely partisan hard-right demands, like those in H.R. 2, jeopardize the entire national security supplemental package,” he added.

Schumer also said he plans to bring President Biden’s national security supplemental to the floor “as soon as the week of December 4th.” He added there will be an all-senators classified briefing on Ukraine “in the coming days,” adding, “I urge every Senator to attend.”

House to consider resolution calling on Hamas to release hostages

The House this week will consider a resolution that calls on Hamas to “immediately release hostages taken” during its attack on Israel last month.

Consideration of the resolution, which has 236 co-sponsors, comes amid a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas that has led to the release of several hostages. The terms of the agreement include the release of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners.

On Sunday, the third day of the truce, 4-year-old Abigail Edan, a dual Israeli-American citizen taken hostage Oct. 7 whose parents were killed in the attack, was released. The truce could be extended.

The House this week is also set to vote on a resolution “Reaffirming the State of Israel’s right to exist.” The two-page resolution, sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), also “recognizes that denying Israel’s right to exist is a form of antisemitism,” “rejects calls for Israel’s destruction and the elimination of the only Jewish State” and “condemns the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel.”

The legislation could put another spotlight on the divisions within the Democratic caucus over Israel that have been exposed on a number of occasions since Hamas’s attack last month. Pro-Israel Democrats have backed the response to the attack, while some liberals have accused Israel of committing human rights crimes in Gaza.

Additionally, the House is looking to consider a separate measure this week that would refreeze the $6 billion in funds that were unlocked as part of a prisoner exchange with Iran earlier this year, and impose sanctions on any foreign or international institution that facilitates the transfer of the funds.

The Biden administration finalized a deal in September that would grant a waiver to allow Tehran to regain $6 billion in assets that had been stuck in South Korea in exchange for the release of five American prisoners. The U.S. also said it would release five Iranian nationals it had in its custody.

That agreement, however, came under bipartisan criticism after Hamas, an Iranian-backed group, launched its attack on Israel last month.

The House is eyeing consideration of the bill this week after conservatives tanked a rule governing debate for the Iran legislation and an appropriations measure before the Thanksgiving recess in part because of how the Iran bill was handled.

Nineteen hard-line conservatives, frustrated that it was brought up under a closed rule, voted against it, blocking the chamber from considering the legislation and prompting GOP leadership to send lawmakers home early for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Updated at 8:45 a.m. ET