The GOP-led House took the extraordinary step last week of expelling former Rep. George Santos. The next question is whether the New York Republican might soon have some company.
Two months ago, Fox News raised a few eyebrows with a report that said House GOP members were “preparing a motion to expel” Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. The report didn’t include any on-the-record comments, and it wasn’t independently verified by other news organizations, but it raised the prospect of a provocative move against a member with a dwindling number of friends.
The chatter seemed to dissipate soon after, though USA Today published a related report overnight.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., continues to draw the ire of his Republican colleagues in the House weeks after he led the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the speakership, and some of his detractors have privately floated expelling him from Congress.
This reporting has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News.
As for what the Floridian’s intra-party opponents would use as a vehicle to move against him, there’s an obvious answer, which The New York Times highlighted in October:
Representative Matt Gaetz’s successful push to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy has cemented his status as one of the most reviled members of the House of Representatives — including among many of his fellow Republicans — and drawn attention to a long-running investigation by the House Ethics Committee into Mr. Gaetz’s conduct.
Longtime readers might recall that the Ethics Committee launched its probe into Gaetz two years ago, and by all accounts, the investigation appears to be near its end. It’s difficult to speculate as to what, if anything, the panel will conclude, but for those hoping to move against Gaetz, this offers an opportunity — especially given the fact that House members just used the Ethics Committee’s findings as the basis for Santos’ expulsion.
“There were a number of people who voted to expel Santos with the express intent of thinking through the precedent there on what happens next,” one unnamed GOP member reportedly told USA Today. “There was a lot of forethought about the precedent and what would happen when a report on Gaetz comes out.”
The same report quoted another House Republican saying, “If there’s anything in [the Ethics Committee’s report on Gaetz] that’s bad, I can guarantee people will have their fangs out. He is hated in our conference. If he comes back as guilty in this ethics thing, I think he’s in trouble.”
Maybe.
I don’t doubt that many GOP members have intense feelings about the Floridian, but I can’t help but dwell on the arithmetic in the chamber.
As recently as eight days ago, the House Republican conference had 222 members, which meant on any given vote, the majority could only afford to lose four of its own members. After Santos was expelled, the conference was left with 221. After former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy exits later this month, the number will fall to 220. Though there’s some ambiguity as to when Republican Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio will step down to become Youngstown State University’s new president, it’s possible we’ll soon see the GOP conference shrink to 219. With these numbers in mind, just how eager would House Republicans be to choose to oust Gaetz? Republican Rep. Troy Nehls recently conceded that the Ethics Committee’s findings related to Santos looked “pretty damaging,” but the Texan added, “[W]hy would we want to expel a guy … [when] we’ve got a three-seat, four-seat majority. What are we doing?” No one should be surprised to hear similar attitudes in response when the Ethics Committee releases its findings on Gaetz. This report updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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