When the House of Representatives voted Friday to expel Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who has not been convicted of any crime, some prominent GOP members of the House representing Department of Energy weapons complex sites came down on opposite sides.
The 311-to-114 vote to kick out Santos, the subject of a scathing House Ethic Committee report, drew “no” votes from Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.) who represents DOE’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee as well as Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), a supporter of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
A couple of Fleischmann’s fellow GOP members of the House Appropriations Committee: Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) who represents the Hanford Site in Washington state and Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) who represents the Idaho National Laboratory, voted to expel the member.
Newhouse was also one of a handful of House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump for his actions in connection to the Jan. 6, 2020 insurrection in Washington, D.C.
“I did not support the first two resolutions brought against Congressman Santos because I wanted the House Ethics Committee to have the opportunity to investigate,” Simpson said via the social media platform, X, formerly Twitter. “However, the overwhelming evidence found in the report makes it clear that Mr. Santos’ actions are unethical and that he is unfit to serve.”
The committee concluded “Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit … blatantly stole from his campaign” and pulled it off in part through “a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background and experience.”
A full list of how members voted is available here.
Fleischmann was quoted in Tennessee media as saying he opposed Santos’ expulsion prior to any court conviction. The chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, said he did not condone Santos’ alleged actions.
