A sans-Santos 2024 beckons in D.C. and on LI
Rep. George Santos maintains the pretense of having a key role in Congress. Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite
The bizarre rise, and awaited fall, of the performance artist formally known as Rep. George Santos inches closer to completion.
Long Island’s most famous impostor is under a 23-count federal indictment. The House Ethics Committee has branded him a thief and deceiver. Already presumed to be political toast, he's ruled out a reelection run.
Santos now is of interest because his anticipated departure, whenever it comes, will create winners and losers here and in Washington.
The new GOP House speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, holds a special stake when his chamber reconvenes next week and a motion for Santos’ expulsion is made. If Santos is kicked out, Johnson’s thin majority gets one vote thinner.
This exercise has the potential to cut different ways.
Booting Santos before he’s convicted might violate some lawmakers’ libertarian instincts. But it would be hard to see how his expulsion would clash with the GOP’s cultural messaging.
The ethics committee's report gave big play to the flamboyant New Yorker’s use of cash contributed to his campaign. Funds went to such personal expenses as Botox treatment, trips to the Hamptons and Atlantic City, and purchases at Hermes, Ferragamo and Sephora.
Back home, plans for a post-Santos 3rd Congressional District draw close attention from the county’s major party organizations. After Santos was elected and exposed as having faked his business, educational and religious backgrounds, one former Santos ally, Queens GOP Councilmember Vickie Paladino, said candidly that he had “fried the seat” for the party.
Chances of the GOP holding CD3 and the Island’s three other congressional seats have since improved. This month, for the third Election Day in a row, Republicans made enough gains across Long Island that the party will hold all the most important local elected offices. After all the hue and cry over Santos’ deceits, Nassau GOP County chairman Joe Cairo looks to pick a new nominee for the district soon, possibly to oppose Democratic former Rep. Tom Suozzi in a special election next year.
An early departure by Santos raises other questions, such as how Democrats who dominate state government may redistrict CD3 under what’s believed to be a newly compliant top court. Last year, the party sought to make the district a tortured contrivance that would include parts of Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, the Bronx, and Westchester, all ringing Long Island Sound. That was ruled part of an illegal gerrymander. Now, nobody is sure what the lines will look like next November.
Santos maintains the pretense of having a key role in Congress. This week he visited the California border, saying he's "eager to bring this information back to DC to address our border issues effectively."
Meanwhile, he plays victim. Doing so is as stylish in certain circles as his designer possessions. After the ethics report was released, he tweeted: “It is a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk. Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice should all be ashamed of themselves.”
And he concluded: “Public service life was never a goal or a dream, but I stepped up to the occasion when I felt my country needed it most. I will 100% continue to maintain my commitment to my conservative values in my remaining time in Congress.”
Very touching, George.
Please shut the door when you go.
Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
