What’s Next After Santos’ Expulsion from Congress

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives in Washington on Dec. 1, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

On Dec. 1, Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) became the sixth person ever to be expelled from the House of Representatives.

The expulsion leaves the GOP with just an eight-seat majority in the lower congressional chamber, with 221 Republican members against 213 Democrat members. Republicans can only afford to lose three votes and keep their majority. If all Democrats vote in opposition to a measure and just three Republicans join them, the measure would pass 218–216.

If four Republicans join the Democrats and the vote is tied 217–217, the measure will fail.

Special Election

Within 10 days, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will have to set a date for a special election for someone else to succeed Mr. Santos in the state’s 3rd Congressional District. Before the ouster, Mr. Santos had already announced that he would not seek reelection and predicted the votes were there for expulsion.

The special election would occur 70 to 80 days afterward. The latest the governor can schedule the special election is Dec. 11, which would set the election for sometime in February or March.

“I am prepared to undertake the solemn responsibility of filling the vacancy in New York’s 3rd District,” posted the governor on X. “The people of Long Island deserve nothing less.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) echoed Ms. Hochul.

“Long Island and Queens deserve better,” he posted on X.

Instead of a primary, the local Republican and Democrat parties will pick a nominee to face off to serve the remainder of Mr. Santos’ term.

Possible Republicans who could be nominated include state Sen. Jack Martins and Nassau County legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip, a black Jewish woman who was rescued by Israel during their airlifts of Ethiopian Jews like herself in 1991.

Meanwhile, Nassau County Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs told ABC News that Democrats could choose from among state Sen. Anna Kaplan; Robert Zimmerman, who lost to Mr. Santos in 2022; and former Rep. Tom Suozzi, who held Mr. Santos’ seat before unsuccessfully running for governor.

Mr. Suozzi and Ms. Kaplan are running in 2024 for the seat.

The House Democrat conference’s super PAC will “play a significant role in the NY-03 special election, and we will do whatever it takes to flip this district blue,” said the group’s president, Mike Smith.

The special election will also be a test for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who won the gavel in October, as it pertains to his fundraising operation, the Johnson Leadership Fund.

New York’s 3rd District went for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Were the Democrats to win back the seat, the GOP would have a seven-seat majority and therefore only be able to lose two votes on measures if all Democrats vote in opposition.

What’s Next for Santos?

Mr. Santos is ineligible to receive post-congressional service benefits except having privileges such as being able to walk onto the House floor. If he is convicted on any of the 23 federal charges he faces, those privileges would be gone.

Mr. Santos’ trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 9, 2024.

In the meantime, ahead of the expulsion vote, Mr. Santos said he would stay in the political arena regardless.

“The future is endless. I mean, you never know; you can do whatever you want,” he told reporters on Nov. 30.

“Next, I’m going to do whatever I want, because whatever comes my way, I have the desire to stay very much involved in public policy and advocacy for specific issues,” he continued.

He also reiterated support for former President Donald Trump’s third bid for the White House.

Mr. Santos told reporters on Nov. 30 that he is “highly employable, because of the amount of job opportunities flooded in my direction”—though he did not go into detail.