Republicans Kick George Santos to the Curb

Leaders of the Nassau County Republican Party on Wednesday called on Representative George Santos of New York to immediately step down.

"He's disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople," Joseph Cairo, the chairman of the Nassau County GOP, said of Santos at a press conference.

Santos is a first-year lawmaker representing parts of Long Island and Queens. A little over a month after winning the election in November, Santos was exposed in a story in The New York Times for making multiple false statements about his professional and personal history. Since then, other media outlets have reported on other alleged falsehoods Santos has made, and he is currently facing multiple ethical complaints and criminal investigations.

Speaking to The New York Post days after the Times story, Santos said he was guilty of "embellishing" his resume but fell short of owning up to all the lies he was accused of telling.

The Nassau County Republican Committee has no authority to remove Santos from office, but Cairo made it clear the local party would not be working with Santos or supporting his reelection should he run in 2024.

"His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives," Cairo said. "He's not welcome here at Republican headquarters."

Cairo was joined by dozens of local Republican officials at the conference who all supported the call for Santos to resign. Multiple lawmakers took turns at the microphone and spoke in frank terms about how they felt Santos lied, misled and disappointed the citizens he was meant to represent.

"He's a national joke. He's an international joke, but this joke's gotta go...Not tomorrow, not next week—today," Town of Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin said.

While Santos may be facing backlash from local Republican officials, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, who was backed by Santos during his contentious bid to become speaker, has not made any public declaration regarding any actions he may intend to take against the congressman.

Santos' troubles continued to mount this week. The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) on Monday announced that it had filed a complaint against him to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for a "tasting menu of campaign finance law violations."

On Tuesday, two New York Democratic congressmen delivered a House Ethics Committee complaint against him that claimed Santos potentially violated the federal Ethics in Government Act after questions were raised about the representative's ability to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own funds to his campaign despite a reported annual income of $55,000.

Newsweek has reached out to the office of Santos for comment.