Congressman George Santos (R-NY) is temporarily stepping down from his committee assignments until the investigations into his conduct conclude.
George Santos flipped New York’s 3rd Congressional district red in November when he defeated Robert Zimmerman.
Last month Santos admitted he lied about his education, employment history and Jewish background in an interview with the New York Post.
“I am not a criminal,” Santos said during his exclusive interview. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said Monday to The Post.
Federal prosecutors in the US are investigating George Santos’ ‘sudden wealth’ after the Rep-elect admitted to embellishing his resume.
There is also an internal House Ethics probe into Santos’ resume claims.
Santos earlier this month was appointed to the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and the Small Business Committee.
“The congressman is reserving his seats on his assigned committees until he has been properly cleared of both campaign and personal financial investigations,” said his spokeswoman, Naysa Woomer.
CNBC reported:
Embattled Republican Rep. George Santos of New York will not serve on the two House committees to which he was recently assigned until the investigations into his conduct have concluded, his office said Tuesday.
Santos informed Republican lawmakers during a closed-door conference meeting in Washington, D.C., earlier Tuesday that “he’s not accepting the committee assignments until things get cleared up,” according to a longtime GOP lawmaker who was in the room. This person declined to be named to discuss private conversations.
Santos’ decision to recuse himself from the two panels marks one of the first tangible repercussions he has faced since admitting he fabricated key details about his biography.
It was not immediately clear whether Santos made the decision of his own accord, or if he was influenced or directed to revoke his committee assignments by other members of his conference. Spokesmen for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday told reporters that George Santos will be removed from Congress if the House Ethics Committee determines the freshman Rep. broke the law.
