House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirms embattled Rep. George Santos is being investigated by the House Ethics committee.
"The one thing I've known as the questions have been... arisen that the people of his district had voted for him in the process," said McCarthy Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
"Ethics is moving through and if ethics find something, we'll take action. And right now, we're not allowing him to be on committee from the standpoint of the questions that have arisen."
The New York Republican has faced numerous calls for his resignation and is facing multiple investigations by prosecutors over his personal and campaign finances and lies about his resume and family background.
Santos was assigned to two fairly low-profile panels, the House Committee on Small Business and to the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee but announced shortly after he would temporarily stepping down from the committees.
The questions surrounding Santos go beyond his misrepresentations to voters to include whether his congressional campaign followed the law in its reporting to the Federal Election Commission.
There have been lingering questions about irregularities in his campaign committee's financial reports and the source of Santos’ wealth.
If Santos’ campaign is found to have knowingly and willfully made any “materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” on its paperwork, it could potentially face criminal charges, the FEC said in a letter to the campaign last month.
Democrats have been highly critical of Santos as well as McCarthy for his efforts to oust three Democratic lawmakers from committees, while at the same time backing committee assignments for Santos, who has lied so thoroughly to his constituents about his background.
McCarthy also talked about the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the weekend off the coast of the United States.
"The one thing we do know is it was allowed to go across the country and it never should," said McCarthy.
"It weakens us from a number of different points. And I think China is going to continue to test us. And I don't think we should ever show weakness in their approach."
