George Santos Is the Sixth Congressman in History to Be Ousted by His Colleagues: Here Are the Other Five

Recently ousted Rep. George Santos may be unique, but his precipitous fall from grace bears similarities to those of disgraced congressmen who came before.

Six members of the House of Representatives have been expelled since 1861: three Confederate rebels, two convicted felons, and the still unconvicted man of many stories. And although the Constitution formulated expulsion as a means by which the House can independently regulate its membership, it remains a very divisive action that is rarely used.

George Santos ousted from the US House of Representatives by an overwhelming vote, 11 months after being sworn in

Many know the story of alleged fraudster George Santos — indicted on 23 federal counts and branded untrustworthy by the House Ethics Committee — but few know how other, equally dramatic House impeachment proceedings went down.

Below are the stories of suspended Reps. John Clark, John Reid, Henry Burnett, Michael “Ozzie” Myers, and Jim Traficant, including their lives after Congress.

John B. Clark (D-MO)

John B. Clark Sr. (D-MO) was expelled from the US House of Representatives in 1861.

Library of Congress

Expelled: 13.7.1861

Reason: Disloyalty to the Union; fighting for the Confederacy

Final vote: 94-45

John Bullock Clark was a lawyer and militiaman who had long considered a political career, running unsuccessfully for governor of Missouri in 1840 as a Whig candidate before briefly joining the Missouri State House of Representatives 10 years later. Then in 1857, through a special election, the fledgling Democratic politician was elected to the US House of Representatives as the representative for Missouri’s 3rd congressional district. He will be elected again in 1858 and 1860.

When the Civil War began in 1861, Representative Clark—a secessionist—joined the Confederate-affiliated Missouri State Guard as a brigadier general, soon leading troops into battle against Federal forces. Shortly thereafter, the House would narrowly pass a resolution expelling him for speaking out against the Union, concluding that “John B. Clark has forfeited all right to represent in the Thirty-seventh Congress,” according to Congress Globe records.

Interestingly, Reps. John Reid and Henry Burnett—the next two House members to be expelled—came to Clark’s defense before the vote, refuting the well-documented facts about his Confederate ties and suggesting they let the House committee investigate Clark first. House members ignored calls from Reid and Burnett, not wanting to delay Clark’s ouster.

After Clark was expelled, he served as both a senator and a representative in the short-lived Confederate States Congress. His son, Confederate General John B. Clark Jr., would join the U.S. House of Representatives during Reconstruction, serving five consecutive terms.

John W. Reid (D-MO)

John William Reid (D-MO) was expelled from the US House of Representatives in 1861.

Alamy

Discharged: December 2, 1861

Reason: Disloyalty to the Union; fighting for the Confederacy

Final vote: Not recorded

John William Reid’s ouster from Congress involved little debate and minimal friction, according to congressional archives. The Democrat from Missouri, who served as a captain in the Mexican-American War and practiced law in the capital of Missouri, was almost never in Congress – five months into his term, when he went to fight for the Confederate army, he “retired” from the seat .

Although he no longer participated in American politics, Reid was technically still a member of the House of Representatives for an additional four months. At the start of the legislative session in December, Missouri Rep. Francis Blair — the same congressman who called for Clark’s ouster — introduced a resolution to formally remove Reid. “There are so many new members coming in that I think it would be good to get rid of one or two,” Blair told the hall, with a laugh.

After the Civil War, Reid settled in Kansas City, where he continued his former legal career and became involved in banking.

Henry C. Burnett (D-KY)

Henry Cornelius Burnett (D-KY) was expelled from the US House of Representatives in 1861.

Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty

Expelled: 03.12.1861

Reason: Disloyalty to the Union; fighting for the Confederacy

Final vote: Not recorded

Henry Cornelius Burnett, a Kentucky lawyer with limited experience in public service, joined Congress in 1855 at the age of 29 (he had previously served as a circuit court clerk for two years). When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Burnett—a Democrat who favored secession—led a convention to create a Confederate government within Kentucky to rival the state’s existing Union government.

In an impassioned and at times sarcastic speech that drew laughter and applause, fellow Kentucky native Charles Wickliffe supported the ouster of Burnett, whom he twice referred to as his “late colleague.”

“He, sir, is not in armed rebellion; he is at the head of the provisional government of Kentucky—a revolutionary convention,” explained Wickliffe, as he documented Congress globe. “Dissatisfied with the proceedings of the Congress of the United States and its efforts to maintain the Union, or with the course adopted by the legislature and people of his own state, he undertook the important duty of organizing a government for the better protection of the lives, liberties, and property of the people of Kentucky.”

Burnett, who had already begun to act as a representative of the Confederate Congress, was soon expelled from the House of Representatives. He continued to serve as a senator in the Confederacy until it dissolved in 1865. He was charged with treason after the war, but never stood trial; He died of cholera in 1866.

Michael J. Myers (D-PA)

Michael J. “Ozzie” Myers (D-PA), standing left, walks next to House Ethics Chairman Julian Dixon in 1989.

Laura Patterson/CQ roll call via AP

Expelled: 02.10.1980

Reason: Convicted of accepting a bribe

Final vote: 376-30

Michael Joseph Myers, who went by the nickname “Ozzie,” served in the Pennsylvania state house before being elected to the U.S. House in 1976. But before the decade began, he became embroiled in controversy — months after he was accused of assaulting a security guard and a young cashier at Quality Inn, he became one of seven members of Congress caught up in the Abscam scandal, an FBI operation in which an undercover agent convinced him to introduce special laws in exchange for thousands of dollars. Myers was charged with bribery and eventually convicted, signaling an attempted ouster.

Before voting on Myers’ ouster, members engaged in a lengthy debate about how and when to punish a convicted felon, with one lawmaker stressing the gravity of ouster by acknowledging that no congressman had been ousted in 119 years. While some believed the vote should be delayed until Myers finishes appealing his conviction, others argued that the House of Representatives is independent of the court system and should make its own judgments based on the overwhelming evidence before it.

Florida Rep. Charles Bennett, a fellow Democrat who chairs the House Ethics Committee, said, “There can be no other choice of sanctions for such actions,” arguing that “it is simply impossible to make excuses for a man who broke so many laws and rules; who transgressed not only as an individual who happened to be a public servant, but as a public servant trading in that very elected office … who promised anything, anything, his vote, his contacts, his connections for purely personal gain; who mocked the place to which his constituents have honorably placed him.”

Myers was sentenced to three years in federal prison after the impeachment, and decades later — in 2022 — he pleaded guilty to federal election fraud, receiving 2 1/2 years in prison. Now 80, he remains in custody in Philadelphia and is scheduled to be released in July 2024.

James A. Traficant (D-OH)

James Anthony Traficant Jr. (D-OH) in a 2002 House hearing examining whether he violated congressional rules.

Alex Wong/Getty

Expelled: 24.07.2002

Reason: Convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery, defraud the United States, receiving illegal gratuities, obstruction of justice, filing false tax returns and racketeering

Final vote: 420-1, 9 present

A noted eccentric and routinely controversial, James Anthony Traficant entered Congress in 1985 and immediately attracted skepticism: Two years earlier, he had been indicted under the RICO Act and acquitted after representing himself in court (he claimed to have accepted bribes during his own undercover operation to expose corruption).

Although not a lawyer, the Ohio Democrat — whose Republican-leaning voting patterns made him a bit of a problem child in Congress — chose to represent himself again decades later when he was tried on federal corruption charges. The second time around, his performance earned less praise: a jury convicted him of all 10 felony charges, including bribery, filing false tax returns, racketeering and forcing his assistants to do work on his farm and on his boat.

Citing conviction, members of the House of Representatives quickly expelled Traficanto in a major rebuke for his behavior. (The only member of the House of Representatives to vote against expelling Traficant was outgoing California Rep. Gary Condit, a Democrat who at the time was caught up in his own scandal after an intern with whom he admitted having an affair was murdered.)

Traficant began serving his prison sentence less than two weeks later and will remain in prison for seven years. Months after serving his sentence, he launched an independent congressional campaign from behind bars to try to regain his seat in the House of Representatives, losing to his former aide Tim Ryan. After serving his prison term, Traficant made another attempt to resume his political career, again losing to Congressman Ryan in 2010.

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Source: HIS Education