The George Santos Saga, Kevin McCarthy Implosion and Marjorie Taylor Greene Circus

Unprecedented times in Congress abounded in 2023, from booting a speaker for the first time in history to near fist fights in the Capitol halls to senior lawmakers’ personal health issues becoming incredibly public.

The House GOP had a particularly wild year. It wasn’t just the ousting of a speaker; don’t forget the expulsion of now-former Rep. George Santos from Congress — the sixth member to ever earn that black mark. Democrats had their own fair share of memorable moments, too, including a certain congressman pulling the Cannon House Office Building fire alarm.

Johnson: Santos expulsion ‘a regrettable day’

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Saturday called the House vote to expel former Rep. George Santos a “regrettable day,” lamenting what he viewed as an affront to due process principles and the rule of law.

The House voted Friday to expel Santos 311-114, with 105 GOP members joining Democrats to oust their fellow Republican.

“We allowed [House Republicans] to have a vote of conscience,” said Johnson in an interview with Fox News. Johnson opposed Santos’ expulsion.

George Santos Is Gone. Now Comes The Fight To Succeed Him.

Well, we won’t have Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) to dunk on anymore.

Congress expelled Santos, the biographical fabulist turned congressman, on Friday, two weeks after a House Ethics Committee report backed up federal charges accusing him of using campaign funds for personal expenses. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and accused prosecutors of engaging in a “witch hunt” against him.

Rep. George Santos Expelled From Congress

The House voted Friday to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from Congress, a historic and embarrassing end to his brief legislative career that was built on lies from the start.

The final vote was 311 to 114. A breakdown of the vote tally is here.

George Santos: a creature of Congress, dark money and limitless Republican hypocrisy

It seems churlish for any member of the party of Donald Trump to single out George Santos for punishment as a liar, fraudster and fabulist. The 23 federal charges against the first-term member of Congress pale beside the Republican frontrunner’s 91 felony counts and civil suits over fraud and E Jean Carroll’s defamation claim, based on her allegation of rape. Republicans’ faux horror at the discovery of Santos’s extravagant spending of campaign funds on Botox, casino chips and OnlyFans belies their previous blithe tolerance of the red-dressed, gay-pride, Brazilian drag queen in their midst. Santos thrived as the symbol of the cultural contradictions of Republicanism. Did his sophisticated taste for accessories from Hermès and Ferragamo finally do him in with his anti-globalist colleagues?

George Santos Won't Seek Reelection After Scathing Ethics Report

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) said Thursday that he will not seek reelection, after a House watchdog found “substantial evidence” that he committed fraud, violated ethics rules and illegally used campaign funds for personal purposes.

The scathing report, released earlier that day by the House ethics committee, details what it describes as “a complex web of unlawful activity involving Representative Santos’ campaign, personal, and business finances.”

George Santos Suggests Chinese Communists Kidnapped His 5-Year-Old Niece

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) appears to be brazenly continuing to blend fact with fiction.

The notorious congressman ― who fabricated details of his past before his election in 2022 and currently faces 23 criminal charges ― has been caught in yet another apparent tall tale, suggesting that people affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party briefly kidnapped his 5-year-old niece.

Kevin McCarthy Wanted Bob Menendez To Resign Until Someone Mentioned George Santos

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was one of many people calling for New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez (D) to resign, but it only took two words to get him to change his mind.

Menendez was indicted last week on bribery charges. On Saturday, McCarthy called for the senator’s resignation, saying that the indictment was “very damaging” and that the evidence presented by prosecutors “seems pretty black and white.”

Former George Santos Fundraiser Charged With Fraud And Identity Theft

NEW YORK (AP) — A former fundraiser for U.S. Rep. George Santos was indicted Wednesday on federal charges that he impersonated a high-ranking congressional aide while soliciting contributions for the New York Republican’s campaign.

Sam Miele, 27, was charged with four counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in an alleged scheme to defraud donors and obtain money for Santos under false pretenses. Prosecutors said Miele used a fake name and email address to impersonate a “high-ranking aide to a member of the House with leadership responsibilities.”