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You by no means know who you’ll run into on the Capitol throughout a State of the Union tackle.
“Governor,” I mentioned, greeting New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, a former House member, and her small safety contingent as they handed me within the basement of the Capitol final Thursday evening.
I turned the nook.
“Mr. Santos,” I mentioned.
Mr. Santos.
MR. SANTOS!!!!!
FORMER SANTOS STAFFER SAYS EXPELLED CONGRESSMAN’S SURPRISE CHALLENGE TO LALOTA ‘IS A JOKE’
Rep. George Santos leaves the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, on Oct. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
As in, former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. Only the sixth member ever expelled from the House. He was kicked out in December.
It is no surprise to stumble upon former lawmakers on the Capitol for the State of the Union speech. Yours actually bumped into former Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., earlier within the day.
But for George Santos to come back again to the Capitol? On State of the Union evening?
Is that allowed?
Well, sure.
The House and Senate grant former members lifetime entry to the U.S. Capitol after they go away Congress. It doesn’t matter in the event that they retire. Are defeated in a main. Lose the overall election. Resign. Quit. Or, get expelled.
“You came back, why?” I requested.
“I’m a former member,” famous Santos. “I have floor privileges.”
Privileged existence
Santos is a member of a really unique membership.
The House bounced three members as a result of they had been Confederates in 1861. The House expelled Rep. Ozzie Myers, D-Pa., in 1980 after he accepted bribes. Myers continues to be alive. The 80-year-old Myers simply went again to jail lately after he pleaded responsible to costs of poll stuffing. The House expelled Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, in 2002, after his conviction on costs of taking bribes, submitting false tax returns and racketeering. Traficant died in 2013.
GEORGE SANTOS ANNOUNCES SURPRISE 2ND RUN FOR CONGRESS DURING SOTU ADDRESS
Former Rep. George Santos made an look for President Biden’s State of the Union Address on March 7, 2024. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc through Getty Images)
And then there may be Santos.
Expelled members are nonetheless former members.
As American Express used to say, “Membership has its privileges.” And you possibly can guess that George Santos intends to take full benefit of that. And so far as anybody is aware of on the Capitol, no former member ever tried to return after their colleagues dismissed them.
But none of them had been George Santos.
Santos picked one of many greatest nights within the American political expertise to forged his shadow on the Capitol door and menace the very colleagues who drummed him out only a few months in the past.
For his State of the Union wardrobe, Santos selected a darkish sport coat, a high-necked, woven Italian sweater and a cream shirt. He punctuated the ensemble with a shiny, bedazzled collar.
The serial fabulist proceeded to inform me the way it was “always a humbling experience” to return to the Capitol.
At that second, Santos turned a good nook resulting in a “Members Only” elevator that whisks lawmakers to a hall simply off the Speaker’s Lobby by the House chamber. A smiling Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., buzzed across the nook and practically collided with Santos as I shot video of Santos on my iPhone.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to photobomb!” mentioned Pressley as she ducked previous Santos. “Hi! How are you?”
EX-REP GEORGE SANTOS RETURNS TO CAPITOL HILL FOR BIDEN’S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
President Biden delivers the State of the Union tackle to a joint session of Congress on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Massachusetts Democrat appeared simply as shocked as everybody else to spy Santos traipsing across the Capitol once more.
Spectator, troll, ulterior motives
Another reporter requested Santos if he supposed to run for workplace once more.
“I don’t put anything past my desire to run for office at this point,” mentioned Santos. “But right now, I’m just a spectator and I’m just watching.”
Not fairly.
George Santos is never a spectator. In my time masking Santos, the modus operandi of the New York Republican was at all times to make himself the focal point – and everybody else spectators. I imply, who may very well be an even bigger shock visitor to the State of the Union than George Santos? Kim Jong Un?
Santos appeared to have one agenda through the State of the Union: To troll his former House colleagues. To swipe consideration from the president and lawmakers – all clustered into the House chamber amid the largest confluence of presidency and media outdoors of a political conference. The Capitol totally bulged with reporters Thursday evening. Local TV reporters jetted into city. The networks organized round-robins of visitors in Statuary Hall. Print reporters chased senators by the Senate subway station. Some Washington reporters who hardly ever go to the Capitol even surfaced within the House chamber for the State of the Union.
So the U.S. Capitol could have been the right place for George Santos final week.
And Santos proved his personal thesis incorrect, that he was there as a spectator.
Just a couple of minutes into President Biden’s speech. Santos introduced he was working for Congress in a unique district than the one he represented earlier than. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., gained a particular election to grab Santos’ previous seat. Santos would now search a return to Congress representing a district on jap Long Island. Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., presently holds the seat.
A bunch of protesters stood with an enormous balloon depicting Rep. George Santos outdoors the U.S. Capitol constructing earlier than his expulsion. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for TransferOn)
Santos faces a mountain of costs over mendacity to Congress about his wealth, and allegations he improperly collected unemployment advantages and used marketing campaign contributions for luxurious bills. His trial begins in September.
Could Santos run from jail if convicted? Well, Jim Traficant – the final member expelled – definitely did so in 2010. Traficant misplaced, however nonetheless scored practically 30,000 votes.
“I think much of what George Santos does is not serious,” complained LaLota. “George Santos was one of the most bizarre people I have ever met. I certainly didn’t hug him or greet him with any sorts of niceness, whatsoever. He’s an embarrassment here in Congress.”
LaLota mentioned the House ought to “tighten up” the principles to “ensure that former members who were expelled don’t have any floor privileges.”
“The guy’s a moron who shouldn’t be here,” protested Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., about Santos materializing within the House chamber. “I’m guessing the New York delegation hand-wrote a new rule in the House where he’s not allowed to come. Those guys were irate.”
By Friday morning, Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., launched the GEORGE Act. The acronym stands for “Getting Expelled Officially Revokes Guaranteed Entry.” The measure would bar Santos – and some other expelled member – from returning to the Capitol.
REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND GOLD STAR FATHER ARRESTED AFTER HECKLING BIDEN AT SOTU
The U.S. Capitol on Feb. 13, 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg through Getty Images)
Congress could be selective about imposing its personal guidelines
Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution offers the House and Senate the correct to make their very own guidelines. So it’s completely doable that the House might undertake an inner rule to hermetically seal Santos from ever coming again to the clubhouse. However, nobody fairly anticipated such a situation, contemplating how uncommon it’s to expel somebody. But then once more, they’re not as audacious as George Santos.
But even when the House authorized a rule, it must implement the rule. And Congress is typically selective about imposing its personal guidelines.
During the State of the Union speech, the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) eliminated and arrested Steven Nikoui, a Gold Star father whose son Kareem Nikoui was killed through the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Nikoui interrupted President Biden on a number of events, shouting “Abbey Gate” from the viewing gallery above the chamber. Nikoui was a visitor of Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla. USCP charged Nikoui with disrupting Congress.
“That seems absolutely absurd to me, for him speaking out. Something that many people were doing. But he was the only one charged,” mentioned Mast.
Mast is right. Many different Republicans heckled and interrupted the president. Notably Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. Greene additionally wore a purple “MAGA” hat throughout the complete speech. Greene says House safety officers even threatened to take away her from the chamber if she wore the hat. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., didn’t quiet lawmakers who hectored the president nor require Greene to take away her hat.
The House has banned the sporting of hats on the ground since 1837. The guidelines bundle authorized by all members for this Congress states the next:
“During the session of the House, a Member, Delegate or Resident Commissioner may not wear non-religious headdress or a hat or remain by the Clerk’s desk during the call of the roll or the counting of ballots.”
But if nobody enforces it…
Which brings us again to George Santos.
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Former Rep. George Santos sat subsequent to Rep. Matt Gaetz on the State of the Union tackle. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
No one anticipated him to return to Capitol Hill. But in spite of everything, he’s George Santos. And even when the House adopted a rule prohibiting his return, lawmakers must implement it. Such guidelines aren’t self-executing.
Which is why, membership has its privileges on Capitol Hill.
Even for expelled members.
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