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Congress

Calls for resignation and investigations amplify for incoming gay GOP Rep. Santos

Accused of financial impropriety, lying about his life and background

Published

4 years ago

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From left, candidates Robert Zimmerman and George Santos. (Screen captures via YouTube)

Media reports this week have ignited demands for the resignation of incoming freshman gay Republican Rep. George Santos (N.Y.) and calls for investigations by congressional ethics and election officials and law enforcement agencies.

On Monday, the New York Times published an investigative story that drew renewed attention to issues concerning Santos’s alleged financial malfeasance along with misrepresentations, lies, and omissions concerning a variety of subjects.

Many, perhaps most, of the details in this report were covered prior to the election by other press outlets, mostly serving smaller local media markets, as well as by Santos’s gay Democratic opponent Robert Zimmerman.

Nevertheless, until this week little attention was paid to the revelations about and questions concerning Santos – from his alleged falsification of key details about his biography to his failure to list the clients of his asset management firm in congressional financial disclosures.

Santos has not responded publicly except through a statement provided by his attorney Joe Murray, who wrote: “After four years in the public eye, and on the verge of being sworn in as a member of the Republican led 118th Congress, the New York Times launches this shotgun blast of attacks,” Murray said in a statement.

Murray also accused the paper of launching attacks against Santos to smear “his good name with these defamatory allegations.”

Santos’s victory for New York’s 3rd congressional district was a mild upset in a midterm election cycle that cost Democrats their control of the House only narrowly. So, when renewed attention was drawn to the race this week, questions mounted about whether Democrats had failed to adequately warn voters about Santos’s conduct and record.

At the same time, Republican officials in New York and Washington were blamed for either ignoring the issues with their candidate or failing to adequately vet him.

Log Cabin Republicans President Charles Moran declined to comment because Santos has not yet personally addressed the allegations against him.

The questions about financial impropriety and possible violations of elections laws may raise the specter of serious consequences for Santos. Responding to this week’s reporting, Zimmerman joined a chorus of voices on Twitter who called for investigations by the House Ethics Committee, Federal Elections Commission, and U.S. Attorney’s office.

Legal issues aside, the breadth of matters about which it appears Santos has lied, misrepresented, or omitted key facts is remarkable.

The Times reported, for instance, that Citigroup and Goldman Sachs said they had no record of Santos ever working there, despite his repeated claims to the contrary. The paper also noted that public records contradict Santos’s assertion that four of his employees were killed in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.

The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus did not respond to a request for comment.

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Congress

HRC president campaigns for Chris Pappas in NH

Gay congressman running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen

Published

3 days ago

on

August 31, 2026

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Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, left, campaigns with U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in Manchester, N.H., on Aug. 30, 2026. (Photo courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign)

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson on Sunday campaigned for U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in New Hampshire.

Robinson traveled to Manchester, the state’s largest city, nine days before the Sept. 8 primary that will determine who will vie for retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)’s seat.

Former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, who represented New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate from 2003-2009, will face off against former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 2010-2013, in the Republican primary.

Karishma Manzur is among the Democrats challenging Pappas.

A poll the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released on Aug. 26 shows Sununu is ahead of Brown. The same survey shows Pappas ahead of Manzur and his other Democratic challengers.

The UNH Survey Center poll shows Sununu ahead of Pappas by a 45-43 percent margin if they were to face off in the general election. The margin of error is +/-2.1 percent.

Pappas would become the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate if he were to win in November.

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Congress

Chris Van Hollen says the Democratic Party needs change. Is he the one to lead it?

Senator is backing anti-establishment Democrats across the country

Published

1 week ago

on

August 26, 2026

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By LEE O. SANDERLIN | The Democratic Party is having something of an identity crisis — losing to President Donald Trump twice in three elections will do that.

Should the party embrace anti-establishment figures who espouse progressive policy ideas like Medicare for all and rhetoric about unrigging the economy for the 1 percent? Or should Democrats try to appeal to moderates who want to return to semi-normalcy in a time of political upheaval?

Although he’s been in Congress since 2002, with key leadership roles throughout his tenure, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, 67, counts himself firmly in the anti-establishment camp.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Congress

House blocks effort to codify transgender servicemember ban into law

Lawmakers approved two anti-trans NDAA amendments

Published

1 month ago

on

July 22, 2026

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The Pentagon (Photo by icholakov/Bigstock)

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have codified a ban transgender servicemembers in the military.

The bipartisan vote was 212-217.

The NDAA is for the 2027 fiscal year and sets policies for the Defense Department programs and activities and the national security programs of the Department of Energy.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) proposed the amendment on July 21. It stated that all personnel are required to serve in accordance with their biological sex, citing military readiness and discipline.

Human Rights Campaign Senior Director of Government Affairs Jennifer Pike Bailey stated that she is grateful for the bipartisan vote that rejected President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “dangerous and discriminatory policy that has kicked brave transgender servicemembers out of the military and weakened our national security.”

“Everyone who meets the same rigorous standards should be able to serve their country. We should honor that patriotism, particularly in this moment where we are witnessing brave servicemembers making the ultimate sacrifice for our country, instead of ending their careers and politicizing their existence. We’re grateful that a permanent extension of this ban failed, and we will keep fighting to reverse this senseless policy,” Bailey said.

Mark Takano, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, stated that he and his members put in countless hours of work to kill the amendment.

“When Americans know they or their families are going to be targeted by or not supported by the military, that leads them to avoid signing up to serve or staying in the service — making it harder to keep the ranks of the armed services full and our nation safe. My colleagues in the Equality Caucus and I will continue working to prevent these attacks on our servicemembers and their families from becoming law,” Takano said.

According to the Congressional Equality Caucus, two other bills could potentially be passed that would also target the transgender community, both of which were proposed by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).

The first was a bill that would have prohibited gender-related medical care under TRICARE and to prevent TRICARE from covering certain gender-related medical procedures and treatments, which was approved in a vote of 219-208.

The second was a bill that would have prohibited male participation in female sports at DoDEA schools. DoDEA schools are Department of Defense Dependents Schools, which is a network of primary and secondary schools.

The amendment was approved in a vote of 221-203. 

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