The header on George Santos‘ Twitter account is a photo of him and House GOP caucus chair Elise Stefanik, who endorsed the Republican congressman-elect.
She also fundraised for him.
Now she’s silent.
Last month, Rep. Stefanik was happy to take credit for the election of her fellow New York Republican, George Santos, who flipped a blue district red.
Her campaign called it “a team effort led by GOP House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik,” and Stefanik herself told the far-right wing website Breitbart, “I am proud to have led this effort,” saying she had been “working tirelessly to help elect hardworking candidates,” including Santos.
Congressman-elect Santos is making headlines this week, after a New York Times investigation appears to have proved he lied about where he worked, lived, and went to college. That bombshell report also painted a damning portrait of a man who went from being evicted twice over $12,000 in unpaid rent, to seemingly rolling in cash, even self-funding a winning congressional campaign as a gay Jewish Republican, all in just a few years.
Now, as Santos’ soon-to-be constituents have been protesting outside a Long Island home he claimed to live in – he does not, according to a local news outlet – some are asking if Republicans will allow Santos to be seated in the House of Representatives.
Curiously, the likely next Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, has said nothing about Santos. McCarthy is desperately seeking 218 votes to win the Speaker’s gavel, and has been coming up short since even before Election Day.
Santos has pledged to support McCarthy’s bid for Speaker, and the GOP Leader has little to no wiggle room.
“We have the opportunity of a lifetime to deliver real results for the American people. We MUST give the gavel to @kevinomccarthy,” Santos tweeted Sunday evening, likely aware the impending Times story was about to drop, “to ensure we stop the disastrous policies the Dems have pushed for the last 2 years. I encourage my colleagues to join me! Our country depends on it.”
Republicans’ number two leader, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, soon to be the House Majority Leader, has also said nothing about Santos.
Whoever become the next Speaker has the ability to block Santos from being seated, a rare event but under the circumstances one that some are demanding happen.
“House Republicans have remained silent on Santos,” The New Republic notes. “When they take control of the House in a few weeks, their majority will be by just a few seats. If he were forced to resign, there’s no guarantee another Republican would take his place. He ran unopposed during the primary, and he won his district—which went for President Joe Biden in 2020—by just eight points.”
The Office of Congressional Ethics has also been silent, but that is more likely circumstantial.
As TNR also notes, Democrats largely have not called for Santos’ resignation.
And while CBS News New York reports, “Calls grow for Congressman-elect George Santos to resign after allegedly lying about his background,” it doesn’t say who is calling for his resignation.
Monday evening Santos posted a statement from his attorney that does not deny any of the allegations, but tries to paint him as a victim of Democrats.
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