New York City Rep. George Santos, facing a slew of investigations after acknowledging that he faked parts of his resume, conceded to calls from other lawmakers and has decided to recuse himself from committee assignments.
The announcement on Tuesday marks the embattled lawmaker's first crack in his continued defiant stance amid controversies. Santos was elected in November and has since admitted to faking several parts of his resume. He is now facing criticism for what many believe is a yearslong pattern of deception.
George Santos Steps Down From Committees
He was named in the new Congress to serve on small business, science, space, and technology committees. Republican lawmakers, however, have made no move to penalize the representative despite a litany of revelations regarding his conduct that he refused to address.
The New York City lawmaker decided to step down from the committee on Monday night after he privately met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The latter said on Tuesday that Santos raised the idea, calling it an "appropriate decision" until he can clear everything up, as per the New York Times.
In a statement, Santos said he requested to temporarily recuse himself from committee assignments due to the ongoing attention surrounding his personal and campaign finance investigations. On Tuesday, he added that the decision was to give him time to properly clear his name before returning to his duties.
The move comes as McCarthy tried to urge other Republicans to vote to oust Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, from the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. It also came a week after the House Speaker unilaterally blocked Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from serving on the House committee overseeing intelligence matters.
The Democratic Party has largely criticized McCarthy for allowing someone like Santos, who is currently under federal and local investigation in his home country and faces fraud charges in Brazil, to serve on the committee but chose to remove members of the left who are not accused of any crimes.
Fabricating Education and Work Histories
Santos said that his decision was taken seriously and added that the business of the 118th Congress needs to continue without media fanfare. According to CBS News, he needed to focus on serving the constituents of New York's Third Congressional District and assisting in providing federal-level representation without being distracted by other issues.
In an interview, the New York City representative said he was quite confident that he would be able to clear his name because he has "nothing to hide." The two vacant seats that will be freed on the committees with Santos stepping down would be filled temporarily, and he can reclaim them if and when he is cleared, said McCarthy.
The entire controversy surrounding Santos began after reports revealed that he fabricated major parts of his background, such as his education and work history, connections to an alleged Ponzi scheme, the death of his mother, and his Jewish heritage, said Fox News.
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