Could the next member of Congress to be expelled be Florida Republican Matt Gaetz? Actually taking that step would require action against him by a bipartisan coalition… but such a coalition just formed to push out George Santos from a seat representing a Long Island Congressional district in New York, so there’s recent precedent for such action.
Gaetz has been at the center of intraparty opposition to GOP picks for Speaker that has significantly slowed the process of actually getting things done at multiple junctures just within the past year. He helped lead the original opposition from Republicans to California’s Kevin McCarthy in January, forcing the now former Speaker to a historically lengthy series of votes before actually securing the job, and much more recently, he filed the motion that resulted in McCarthy’s ouster. After weeks of infighting, McCarthy was replaced by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), who holds arch-conservative views.
A Republican lawmaker told Axios reporter Juliegrace Brufke that there are “many of us after last Jan and Oct [who] will vote to expel Gaetz too if Ethics Committee shows he’s guilty. We didn’t enjoy doing it to Santos, but it was necessary. With Gaetz, we want him out, and it can’t happen fast enough.” Santos’ expulsion came after a report from the House Ethics Committee that accused him of misconduct including the misuse of campaign funds on personal expenses. He also remains under indictment. As for Gaetz, the Ethics Committee was recently reported to be reexamining investigative threads related to the Congressman falling well outside mere dislike from fellow Republicans.
A previous statement (issued way back in 2021) from the committee noted public allegations that Gaetz “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”
Gaetz recently told Charlie Kirk Republicans could lose the majority with retirements this Congress, stating “It is not in accordance with the precedent. It is not in accordance with due process and it is just tactically freaking stupid.” And Gaetz supporters have noted he was…
— Juliegrace Brufke (@juliegraceb) December 3, 2023
