The American Spectator "The Democrats and the Fourth Estate have finally found, in congressman-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.), a Republican who is genuinely guilty of lying to the voters. Having thus discovered themselves — for once — in possession of the moral high ground, they have made the welkin ring with cries of outrage and calls for his resignation. However, if he ignores those calls, it may be difficult to stop him from being seated in the House and even harder to expel him once he takes office.
"But surely the Speaker of the House can simply refuse to administer the oath of office to Santos, right? Wrong. This was attempted in January of 1967, after Rep. Adam Clayton Powell (D-N.Y.) was re-elected despite allegations that he had misappropriated funds as Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee. At the opening of the 90th Congress House Speaker John McCormack (D-Mass.) refused to swear Powell in and the House passed a resolution that denied him his seat while a bipartisan committee investigated the charges.
"Powell filed a federal lawsuit claiming that neither the Speaker of the House nor the House of Representatives as a body possessed the constitutional authority to deny him his seat. The District Court dismissed the case on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction to rule in the matter. Powell lost again on appeal. At length, the case was taken up by the Supreme Court, where Powell finally prevailed. Christopher DeLacy, co-chair of the Political Law Group at Holland & Knight, provides an accessible explanation of the Court’s ruling:". . .
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