Rep. George Santos Will Serve On These 2 Committees After Lying About Resume

Topline

House Republicans on Tuesday tasked freshman Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who has been accused of lying about everything from his athletic achievements to even his own name, with serving on two lower-tier committees, in the latest sign GOP leaders plan to include Santos in lawmaking efforts despite mounting calls for him to resign.

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) watches proceedings during the fourth day of elections for speaker of … [+] the House at the Capitol on January 6, 2023 in Washington. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Santos will be part of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, along with the House Small Business Committee.

The Science Committee oversees non-defense scientific research, including NASA, while the Small Business Committee holds authority over the Small Business Administration and is generally tasked with reviewing policies impacting small businesses.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said last week Santos would not be seated on any top committees, which is fairly typical for first-term members of Congress, but insisted House Republicans still plan to welcome him as part of an “innocent until proven guilty” approach.

Contra

Some Republican committee leaders were reportedly lobbying against having Santos appointed on their panels. Science Committee chairman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) did not appear thrilled at the prospect of Santos joining his committee, telling Bloomberg on Tuesday, “Somebody’s going to win the prize.”

What To Watch For

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.)—chairman of the House Oversight Committee—said Sunday that Santos faces a “strict ethics investigation” to determine whether he broke campaign finance laws. Comer said he will be ousted from Congress if campaign finance wrongdoing is found, but stopped short of calling for Santos to resign for lying about his resume.

Key Background

Six of the 10 New York Republicans in the House have called for Santos to resign, along with his local Republican Party chapter, but the congressman has dismissed the calls. On Thursday, Santos said he intends to seek reelection in 2024 and will only step down if “142” people ask him to, apparently referring to the more than 142,000 Long Island voters who cast their ballots for him in November (Santos actually received over 145,000 votes). Santos has been accused of lying about essentially all major aspects of his resume, including his career, religious beliefs and marital history, but his financial disclosures might land him in the most trouble. Santos claimed an annual income of only $55,000 in a failed 2020 congressional campaign, leading to questions about how he reported a $750,000 annual salary by 2021 and later managed to fund a $700,000 personal loan to his 2022 campaign. The Justice Department is now investigating the financial irregularities, which are also being reviewed by the New York attorney general and Nassau County prosecutor’s office. Santos has not been charged with a crime.

Tangent

Firebrand Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) were also both given committee posts in the newly Republican-controlled House, after Democrats expelled them from committees in the previous Congress over controversial social media posts.