McCarthy won't force Santos out, saying he'll 'answer to the voters.' Voters won't get a say for 2 years.
Alex Brandon/AP Photo; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
- Kevin McCarthy says he won't force Rep. George Santos to resign.
- McCarthy told reporters it's up to voters to decide, but a vote won't happen for another two years.
- NY Republicans have called on Santos to step down amid his "deceit, lies, and fabrication."
Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy says he won't force New York Rep. George Santos out of office for lying about his resume and qualifications.
"Look, the voters decide," McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, according to NBC News. "The voters elected him to serve. If there is a concern, he has to go through the Ethics [Committee]. Let him move through that."
"He has to answer to the voters, and the voters [get] to make another decision in two years," McCarthy added, according to The Hill.
But voters — who won't vote again on New York's 3rd Congressional District's House of Representatives seat until November 2024 — elected a very different Santos from the one they ended up with.
In his campaign, Santos fabricated multiple parts of his resume, including where he worked, where he went to college, and his GPA. A fundraiser for his campaign also reportedly posed as McCarthy to raise money.
New York Republicans have called on Santos, who has admitted to fabricating some of his experience, to step down just days after being sworn in on Saturday.
"George Santos' campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies, and fabrication," Joseph Cairo, the Nassau County Republican Party Chairman, said at a news conference captured by NBC News.
But Santos has repeatedly said he will not resign, tweeting that he was elected to serve "the people," not "the party & politicians."