Said resolution was introduced yesterday by Congressman Robert Garcia, and it is privileged, which means that conservative leaders must schedule a vote for Thursday.

However, the Republicans will try to avoid a pronouncement on the bill itself, and choose to refer it to the Ethics Committee of the Lower House, which has been investigating Santos since the beginning of March, according to a report by NBC News.

The president of that legislative body, Kevin McCarthy, assured he preferred the approach given to the issue by his bench instead of giving rise to a process to expel Santos from Congress.

Garcia, for his part, described the maneuver as “an escape” and added that what is needed is a real exercise on expulsion.

Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor, suggested the Ethics Committee take no action on the resolution and instead refers it to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which last week indicted Santos on 13 federal counts.

“Prosecutors are going to ask the Committee to pause and let their prosecution come first. That is the nature of how these things work,” he stated.

Last week, Santos pleaded not guilty in a Long Island, New York, court after being charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, according to the DOJ.

The Republican, who previously admitted that he lied about his biography, called the process against him a “witch hunt” and ruled out resigning from his job.

According to analysts, the support given by McCarthy to Santos is due to the need of the Republicans to hold on to the meager majority they have in the Lower House, for which they cannot afford to lose even one of their seats.

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