Unfortunately, and unbelievably, George Santos’ expulsion from the House of Representatives was not a foregone conclusion. Despite the damning House Ethics Committee Report, it was only through the exercise of conscience by 105 Republicans that it occurred at all. The question is why it took so long to bring this sorry state of affairs to conclusion.
The answer is that the Constitution (Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2) only gives the power to expel its members to Congress. The problem with that limitation is the decision to expel is fraught with politics…in this particular case, with a desire to maintain the narrow Republican majority and, in a conflict of interest, to generally protect themselves from a similar fate by citing expulsion as a bad precedent except in extremely limited circumstances. In other words it was not expedient for Republicans to move forward with an expulsion. Politics trumped moral duty. Witness the fact that 112 out of 217 Republican representatives voted “no” on the expulsion resolution despite the fact that a preponderance of voters in the Third Congressional District who had elected Santos had been calling for his resignation or expulsion throughout the past year thus making hollow Republican Party leadership and hard right remonstrations that such a decision should be left to the voters.
What is the solution?
We need to amend the US Constitution so that, in the face of inaction by our elected representatives, voters are allowed to directly “recall” their representatives when they no longer serve their interests. This includes the President, Senators and members of the House of Representatives The ability to recall an elected official before he or she serves out his or her term is an effective way to hold that person accountable directly to the voters. It is one hallmark of a true democracy. At the same time, there need to be reasonable constraints on the ability, or hurdles to overcome, to initiate a recall. Clear procedures as well as the behaviors and circumstances that allow for a recall vote to be justified and initiated would need to be specified. In this regard, it is important to note that some 19 states provide, either through their Constitutions or legislation, a recall mechanism for those elected at state or local levels that could be used as a model at the federal level.
As voters we need a way to assert ourselves outside of election cycles to insure that our elected officials continually represent our interest…allowing for a recall vote is one way to do that.
But that’s just one person’s perspective, what’s your opinion?