House Republican leaders dodge discussing George Santos — but privately admit his lies are 'problematic'

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that House Republican leadership is avoiding any public discussion of the scandal surrounding Rep.-elect George Santos (R-NY) — even as they privately acknowledge that the lies he has told about his professional life and qualifications are "problematic."

"Mr. Santos acknowledged in a series of interviews on Monday that he lied about graduating from college and made misleading claims that he worked for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs. He also acknowledged owing thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and denied committing a crime anywhere in the world, despite a New York Times report to the contrary," said the report. "The muted response from party leaders suggested that so far they were prepared to mete out little, if any, punishment to an incoming lawmaker who, while deceiving voters, flipped an open seat formerly held by a Democrat and helped Republicans secure their razor-thin House majority."

Since the original Times reporting, even more fabrications have been revealed, including that he appears to have lied about having Jewish ancestry and his family having survived the Holocaust. Even the timing of his coming out as an openly gay man a decade ago is in question, with him having been married to a woman until 2019.

"House Republicans, led by Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, have consistently closed ranks around members of their party facing scrutiny for a litany of misdeeds, including candidates who rallied at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and sitting lawmakers who appeared at a white nationalist conference," said the report. "In Mr. Santos’s case, they likely have even less political incentive to take action. Still, some criticism began to emerge from corners of New York’s Republican Party. If Republican leaders demanded Mr. Santos resign — and he did so — it would prompt a special election in a swing seat, a potential blow to Republicans’ already precarious majority. And the incoming congressman had pledged to vote for Mr. McCarthy for speaker next week, a critical display of support for the Republican leader, who is facing a mini-revolt on the right and needs every vote he can get."

"Representatives for House leaders did not immediately respond to requests for comment or offer any statements on the record. Privately, House Republican leadership has appeared to concede that Mr. Santos’s situation is problematic, but has justified a lack of public condemnation by making the case that Democrats have their own problematic members," said the report. "Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, previewed that argument on Twitter on Tuesday, conceding that Mr. Santos 'lied about his resume' before pivoting to accuse several Democrats of also telling lies."

It is doubtful that Santos could be denied his seat even if Republicans were so inclined, as the Supreme Court ruled in Powell v. McCormack that Congress cannot impose their own extra qualifications on being seated beyond those in the Constitution.