So, I take it there is no recall process for a Congressional legislator in New York?

[Baitball Blogger]

Just thinking that if it were a question of acquiring petition signatures to remove Santos, that some people would be more than happy to get a second chance to change their vote. It would certainly provide a better response to Santos' claim that he will not step down because he was voted in by 142,000 voters.

[Ocelot II]

1. States can't recall a member of Congress; an attempt at a recall by any state, not just NY,

is prohibited by the Constitution. Only Congress can get rid of a member of Congress until there's an election and the voters do it.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Thank you.

I was afraid it was something like that.

[Rebl2]

9. That's unfortunate

In KS a few years ago members of the democratic house in KS tried to get rid of one of their own, but were not able to. He was in his early twenties and it came out after he was elected, he had been abusive and bullied previous girlfriends. He was stopped for DUI after he was in office a time or two. He also threatened his brother and grandfather at one point. Thankfully he was not re-elected last fall.

[2naSalit]

2. Taking reply #1 into account...

Because that is true, the only other ways he could end up not holding office (since his House leadership in the party won't do anything) would be if he was arrested and imprisoned during his term and forced to resign by the House leadership; or if he was rendered in capable like maybe being dead or something, which is not what I'm advocating but it's one of the two possibilities.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Thank you.

[hlthe2b]

3. Constitution prohibits state recall.

Congress can vote to eject him, but even if he were convicted and jailed, he could (theoretically) still serve. Other Congressmen have--at least for a time or at least run for reelection from jail:

In 2002, former Rep. James Traficant, I-Ohio, took 15 percent of the vote even though he had just started an eight-year sentence for bribery, racketeering and other crimes. Going farther back in history, Matthew Lyon was successful in 1798. He had been convicted of libel, ran for Congress from prison and won.

The Constitution lists three conditions one must meet to be a candidate for the House of Representatives -- you must be at least 25 years old, have been a citizen for at least seven years and live in the state you hope to represent. These are all that are required, and states may not add to them, for example, by prohibiting a felon from running for office. According to a 2002 Congressional Research Service report, these conditions "are fixed and may not be supplemented by Congress nor by any State unilaterally."

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Thank you.

[Ocelot II]

10. If he's extradited to Brazil it might be a little more difficult for him to "serve,"

if that's what he calls it. We can only hope. In the meantime he sure makes the GOP look stinky.

[GoCubsGo]

7. No, but in the grand scheme of things, his remaining in the seat is probably a good thing.

At least, in the long run. The longer he's there, the more likely it is that seat will go back to a Democrat. Until then, Santos is radioactive, and him remaining in that seat only hurts his party. Also, there's a good chance he'll be facing extradition to Brazil for his crimes there. He could very well face charges here, as well. The best case scenario is that entire country sees the sitting Republican Congressman gets hauled off in handcuffs.

[multigraincracker]

8. I think he is doing a great job....

for our party.

Keep him around, just a little longer and make sure he has a pick and shovel to keep digging.

[GoCubsGo]

11. Also, may that hole he's digging collapse around the edges,

and pull some of his fellow GOPers in with him.

[gab13by13]

12. I'm pretty sure if he wasn't eligible to run for office in the first place,

there must be some mechanism to remove him. Is he a US citizen?

[dalton99a]

14. Still a very important question

And if he is, when was he naturalized?

[dalton99a]

13. The taxpayer-paid Congressional staffers hired by him should be investigated as well.

His office will be a veritable den of crime and corruption