George Santos tells House Republicans he wants off of his committees until issues are resolved

CNN

By Manu Raju, Melanie Zanona and Fredreka Schouten, CNN

Rep. George Santos told the House GOP conference on Tuesday behind closed doors he wants off of his two committees until his issues are resolved, three members told CNN.

The New York Republican who has faced calls for his resignation for false statements — including regarding his professional experience, education history and identity — is a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Small Business. Federal prosecutors are also investigating Santos’ finances, and he continues to face a myriad of questions about his personal finances.

He was first elected last fall.

Santos declined to speak to reporters as he left the meeting.

Santos met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday night.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia told CNN that it was Santos’ decision that he made on his own to “abstain” from the committees. She said he told the conference he would step aside from the committees as the GOP is trying to oust Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Democrats have cited the mounting false statements and scrutiny facing Santos as an example of hypocrisy for Republicans booting Omar and two other House Democrats — California Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell — off committee assignments. While Schiff and Swalwell were able to be ejected from the House Intelligence Committee unilaterally by McCarthy, Omar’s position on House Foreign Affairs will need a vote on the House floor, one that Republican leaders have yet to force.

“He just felt like there was so much drama really over the situation, and especially what we’re doing to work to remove Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee,” Greene told CNN.

She added: “But Mr. Santos’ statement in there was just saying that he spoke with Speaker McCarthy and made this decision on his own.”

Small Business Committee Chairman Roger Williams, a Republican from Texas, said that he thinks Santos “probably made the right decision” to step down from his committee assignments until the questions about his past and his financial irregularities are resolved.

Leaving his office late last week on Capitol Hill, Santos told a reporter that he would put together a news conference “soon” to “address everything.”

“We’ll give you all the answers to everything you’re asking for,” he said.

In recent days, Santos has faced a series of questions regarding his campaign finances, including inquiries about donors as well as campaign disbursements, including dozens of expenses his campaign has reported at exactly $199.99, one cent below the threshold above which the campaign is required to retain receipts.

The Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the FEC that describes his disbursements as “odd and seemingly impossible.” It notes that one of the $199.99 expenses was purported to be for a “hotel stay” at the luxury W Hotel South Beach in Florida in October 2021, where the lowest-price room typically would have cost more than $700.

Last week, Santos also filed a slew of amended reports with the FEC that only added to the confusion about the source of loans he has said he made to his campaign.

In some filings, the campaign did not check boxes denoting that two six-figure loans came from the candidate’s personal funds.

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CNN’s Kristin Wilson contributed to this report.