Rep. George Santos says he won’t serve on House committees while

On Jan 31, 2023

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Embattled Republican Rep. George Santos of New York will not serve on the two House committees to which he was recently assigned until the investigations into his conduct have concluded, his office said Tuesday.

“The congressman is reserving his seats on his assigned committees until he has been properly cleared of both campaign and personal financial investigations,” said his spokeswoman, Naysa Woomer.

Santos informed Republican lawmakers during a closed-door conference meeting in Washington, D.C., earlier Tuesday that “he’s not accepting the committee assignments until things get cleared up,” according to a longtime GOP lawmaker who was in the room. This person declined to be named to discuss private conversations.

It was not immediately clear whether Santos made the decision of his own accord, or if he was influenced or directed to revoke his committee assignments by other members of his conference. Spokesmen for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Santos was appointed earlier this month to posts on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and the Small Business Committee. The GOP Steering Committee, led by McCarthy, made those assignments over howls of bipartisan criticism against Santos and calls for his resignation.

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