George Santos Controversy

George Santos, an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for New York’s 3rd congressional district for 11 months, is a controversial figure when it comes to United States current events, with him being expelled from the House on December 1, 2023 in a 311 to 114 vote to remove him, above the two-thirds House supermajority required by the Constitution.

Ever since the beginning of his term, he has gone through many scandals. Some accusations include scamming 3000 dollars from a GoFundMe campaign for a disabled veteran’s dying service dog and immigration documents showing his mother was not in New York on 9/11 as he had claimed. Santos has also admitted that he lied all over his resume, including his education and religious background. Additionally, there are charges in Brazil for fraud, with allegations of an incident in 2008 relating to a stolen checkbook. Furthermore, Santos has been accused of using campaign funds to pay personal expenses and concealing the origins of a $705,000 loan Santos made to his campaign. With this money “stolen,” he has been accused of spending that money on Hermes, OnlyFans, personal travel, and Botox. Furthermore, Santos has allegedly lied to collect unemployment benefits, committed identity theft, lied to Congress, reimbursed self for loans he didn’t make, and more.

Although these are all allegations, they are important to consider to the credibility of him as a character and the possible reasons as to why he was expelled from the house. To help ensure that future representatives of the United States population and its values are credible individuals that won’t exploit their position, some public policy approaches are appropriate. Legal investigations and potential prosecutions should be pursued to address criminal behavior, while the House Ethics Committee should conduct an inquiry into ethical violations. Reforms in campaign finance laws may be considered to enhance transparency and prevent fraudulent activities, and there could be a call for intensified ethics training for representatives. Strengthening identity theft prevention measures, constituent engagement, and transparency initiatives are essential to rebuilding trust. Political parties may take internal actions, and legislative and anti-corruption reforms should be explored to address systemic weaknesses. Overall, a robust and multifaceted public policy response is crucial to uphold the integrity of the political system and prevent future ethical lapses.