George Santos STEPS DOWN from committees over lies about his past

The Long Island liar, Rep. George Santos, told his Republican colleagues Tuesday morning that he will recuse himself from House committees, as the fallout from his fabricated biography continues. 

'He just felt like there was so much drama really over the situation, and especially what we're doing to work to remove Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee,' fellow Republican, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, told reporters upon leaving the meeting. 

'But Mr. Santos' statement in there was just saying that he spoke with Speaker McCarthy and made this decision on his own.' 

Santos announced in a GOP conference meeting that he would be stepping down from his assignments on the Science and Small Business committees, reportedly telling his colleagues that he felt he was a 'distraction.' 

The Long Island liar, Rep. George Santos, told his Republican colleagues Tuesday morning that he will recuse himself from House committees after he fabricated a large part of his biography

Santos has been under fire since December, after reports emerged that he had lied on his campaign website about where he attended college, and that he had worked for high-powered financial institutions including Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.  

His carefully constructed back story unraveled from there, including reports that he had been a drag queen in Brazil - claims he denied. 

Polling from Newsday and Siena College showed that 78 percent of Santos' New York constituents now believe he should resign. 

While lawmakers can be expelled from Congress, the more typical punishment for members behaving badly has been to strip them of their committee assignments. 

During the last Congress, Democrats voted to remove Greene and Paul Gosar from committees after their social media posts showed violence against Democratic members including then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

As the new GOP-led Congress kicks off, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unilaterally removed Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee.

He justified the action by saying that Schiff, the former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, had lied about Russiagate and Hunter Biden's laptop, while he pointed to Swalwell's entanglement with an alleged Chinese spy. 

Schiff said he was being punished for his role in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment. 

The Republicans are also trying to push Omar, one of the members of the so-called progressive 'squad,' from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over past comments she made about Israel that were widely interpreted to be anti-Semitic. 

In all three cases, Democrats said it was hypocritical to go after their members and allow Santos to serve on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Small Business. 

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, who endorsed and fundraised for Santos, was asked Tuesday morning whether she regretted that decision. 

The New York congresswoman noted that Santos had voluntarily removed himself from committees while he 'goes through this process' but would not say whether she had regrets. 

'Ultimately, voters make this decision about who they elect to Congress,' Stefanik told reporters. 

Pressed on whether he should resign, she said again: 'This process is going to play itself out.'  

'Ultimately voters are going to make a decision.'