Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves a House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 25, 2023. Santos told colleagues in a closed-door meeting Tuesday that he is temporarily stepping down from his two congressional committees. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
New York Republican Rep. George Santos is temporarily stepping down from his congressional committee assignments amid ongoing investigations surrounding his fabrications.
The beleaguered representative announced on Tuesday he would be voluntarily removing himself from both the House Committee on Small Business as well as the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Santos faces multiple investigations for lies about his personal, professional, and financial background.
"With the ongoing attention surrounding both my personal and campaign financial investigations, I have submitted a request to Speaker McCarthy that I be temporarily recused from my committee assignments until I am cleared," Rep. Santos said in a statement. "The business of the 118th Congress must continue without media fanfare."
"It is important that I primarily focus on serving the constituents of New York’s Third Congressional District and providing federal level representation without distraction," Santos added.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Santos’ decision was appropriate.
"I met with George Santos yesterday, and I think it was the appropriate decision that until he can clear everything up, that he’s off of committees right now," McCarthy told reporters Tuesday. "Until he answers all those questions, then he’ll be able to be seated on committees."
There have also been new questions surrounding Santos’ treasurer switch and whether or not his reporting to the Federal Election Commision complied with law.
In a letter to the Santos campaign last week, the FEC said if it made any "materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation" in its paperwork, there could be criminal charges.
Santos removing himself from committee assignments comes after a Siena College Research Institute poll found 78 percent of voters in his district believe he should resign.
But Santos told reporters Tuesday he was not considering resigning.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
