Some House Democrats introduced a resolution to expel U.S. Rep. George Santos from Congress on Thursday, a measure welcomed by a group of 3rd District residents who share the same goal.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Ritchie Torres, Dan Goldman, Robert Garcia, Becca Balint and Eric Sorensen submitted the resolution on Thursday. Santos’ expulsion would require a two-thirds majority vote of members of the Republican-controlled House.

“Enough is enough: My colleagues and I are introducing legislation to expel George Santos from the United States Congress,” Torres tweeted Thursday. “If Kevin McCarthy refuses to hold George Santos accountable, then we will.”

“George Santos is a total fraud who deceived his voters to get elected to Congress,” Goldman tweeted. “His presence in Congress is a stain on the institution and if he will not resign then he must be removed.”

Santos told reporters that the sponsors of the resolution were “silencing the electorate of the United States.” The congressman has continuously referred to the 142,000 votes he received during the election since being faced with questions about whether or not he would step down from office.

Torres and Goldman, both New York Democrats,  filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee several weeks ago for allegedly violating the Ethics in Government Act, saying the Republican must be held accountable for deceiving voters and Congress.

The Ethics in Government Act, officials said, was created to “preserve and promote the integrity of public officials and institutions,” which Torres and Goldman said they believe Santos has failed to adhere to. The two described financial reports submitted in 2020 and 2022 as “sparse and perplexing” in the complaint.

McCarthy, the House speaker, said on Tuesday he anticipates Congress’ Ethics Committee to conduct a probe into the allegations made against Santos.

“There are questions, I expect them to get answered,” McCarthy told CNN.

McCarthy previously told reporters that the Ethics Committee had launched an investigation into Santos before an aide for the speaker confirmed no investigation has begun.

A nonpartisan ad hoc group, Concerned Citizens of NY-03 sent out a press release expressing their support for the expulsion resolution on Thursday, saying that Santos is “unfit to serve in Congress.”

“George Santos is a scourge to us, his constituents; he’s an embarrassment to the GOP, he’s a humiliation to long-time donors, and he’s turning the Republican Party into an international laughing stock,” the release said. “But worst of all, he’s distracting our leaders from conducting the country’s important business.”

Dozens of members of all ages from the group traveled to Washington D.C. from Roslyn Tuesday morning to call for McCarthy to oust Santos from the House. ​​Once there, the residents flooded the hallways of the Capitol outside Santos’ office before joining Torres and Goldman, calling for him to be removed from office.

“The travesty of Santos’s presence in Congress is not politics as usual and cannot be treated as such,” the release continued. “And it leaves us, the citizens of NY-03, without meaningful representation in Congress.”

A resolution submitted by Town of North Hempstead Democratic Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey that also called for Santos’ expulsion from Congress was passed on Tuesday night by a 6-1 vote. North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena also presented a resolution for Santos to resign, which passed unanimously during the Tuesday meeting.

Republican Councilmember David Adhami said he agreed with the general intent of the Democrat’s resolution but disagreed with its verbiage before voting no, saying there’s information included just to trigger people and it was poorly written. 

DeSena motioned to amend the resolution to remove any mention of her name, saying doing so makes it a political and personal attack, which was voted down 4-3 along party lines. The supervisor endorsed Santos during his congressional campaign and has since changed her tune following the unearthing of Santos’ personal, professional and financial track record.

Recent reports revealed Santos faced theft charges after writing several bad checks in his name to dog breeders in the Pennsylvania Amish country in 2017, according to multiple reports. The York County District Attorney’s office classified the case as “theft by deception” to Politico.

The nine checks Santos wrote exceeded $15,000, according to the reports. Santos’ childhood friend and personal injury lawyer, Tiffany Bogosian, said Santos claimed four checkbooks went missing before writing the bounced checks, in a letter she sent to a Pennsylvania state trooper.

Bogosian told CNN she was not licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and could not represent Santos in the matter. She said she was later informed by the now-congressman that the charges were dropped.

A spokesman for the York County District Attorney’s office told CNN said the case against Santos was listed as “withdrawn or dismissed.” Bogosian told CNN she plans to “expose him to the fullest degree” after the congressman’s falsehoods have been revealed.

The FBI is currently investigating Santos’ role in allegedly scamming a homeless, disabled veteran out of thousands of dollars that would have been used to care for the man’s service dog.

Richard Osthoff said that he met Santos, who introduced himself as Anthony Devolder, in 2016 while living in a tent on the side of a New Jersey highway.

Osthoff’s service dog, Sapphire, was suffering from a life-threatening stomach tumor, treatment for which would cost $3,000, the veteran told Patch.

A veterinary technician told Osthoff to use Friends of Pets United, a pet charity headed up by Santos under the Anthony Devolder alias.

Osthoff said he never saw any of the funds after a GoFundMe was set up and subsequently deleted once it got close to hitting the $3,000 goal.