House Republicans are facing a whole new crisis thanks to George Santos
Tuesday’s superseding indictment against House Republican George Santos means a few things. First, Santos is now a lock to spend a long time in prison, given how serious these charges are and how overwhelming the case is against him. Second, the Santos scandal is now squarely back in the headlines, at a time when House Republicans are already in crisis and were hoping everyone would forget that they’re keeping an indicted criminal within their ranks while he awaits trial.
House Republicans just got done ousting their own Speaker of the House, solely because one of their members – who is an alleged underage sex trafficker – decided to throw a tantrum. Days later they still have no Speaker, and based on the reports that are surfacing, they’re nowhere close to having the votes to elect a new one.
Now House Republicans are stuck with a new round of headlines reminding the general public that they’re still refusing to expel George Santos, even now that he’s been indicted for stealing and running up the credit cards of Republican donors. And given how strong the case against Santos is, they now have to worry that he could decide to cut a plea deal – which would certainly include his resignation.
So at best, House Republicans are now stuck trying to fend off new George Santos headlines at a time when they can’t even function as it is. At worst, House Republicans could be about to lose a seat at a time when they already lack the votes to elect a Speaker. This is about as ugly as it gets. But for House Republicans, it’ll probably find a way to get even uglier.
