Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has, according to records on Congress.gov, introduced a measure that would seemingly provide a mechanism for legal action for individuals who lost persons close to them to COVID-19 — and he has received apparently zero cosponsors.
Based on past statements Santos has made complaining about authorities in China combined with the general animosity from Republicans towards that country specifically in the context of COVID-19 and the anti-Asian racism that even Trump has propagated, it seems safe to assume the target of the legal framework Santos’s measure would establish would be Chinese authorities. That idea would mirror past pushes around the idea of allowing families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 terror attacks to bring legal action against Saudi authorities. Santos, though, doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere.
Though it’s not as though failing to achieve cosponsor support is an automatic death blow, it’s a still useful barometer. Santos appears to have failed to nab a single cosponsor for a single proposal he has introduced during his time in Congress, and there are already over two dozen such proposals on record from the New York Republican — who it seems unlikely will be returning to his post for another term, though he’s running for re-election.
Santos faces criminal charges from federal authorities related to alleged misstatements he made. The list of accusations includes lying to the U.S. House about his personal financial status and using money that was meant to support his political ambitions instead for personal use. He even stands accused of getting unemployment assistance for which he wasn’t eligible because he was separately maintaining gainful employment. Santos was put under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and has been embroiled in legal disputes over whether the identities of individuals who helped secure his bond would be released.
