George Santos gets two House committee assignments

WASHINGTON — Rep. George Santos was named to two House committees on Tuesday despite multiple law enforcement investigations and the filing of complaints about his campaign and financial disclosure filings.

Santos will sit on the Small Business Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, a knowledgeable House GOP source told Newsday Tuesday night.

Santos' appointment came as the House Republican Steering Committee revealed committee assignments, including the decision to place the three other Long Island Republican congressmen on the House Homeland Security Committee.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made the appointment despite admitting on Monday that he always had questions about Santos’ resume and had heard that a Santos campaign aide had posed as McCarthy's chief of staff to raise money and boost support for Santos.

“We will have dealt with all committees today and he’ll get seated on committees,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters asking about Santos Tuesday. Last week, McCarthy said he considered Santos a member of the Republican conference and would seat him on a committee.

Santos, 34, has admitted fabricating much of his resume and faces local, state and federal investigations.

Santos’ congressional office staff did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday night.

Santos sought to be placed on the House Financial Services Committee, but was denied that plum post.

Last week, Democratic Reps. Daniel Goldman of Brooklyn and Ritchie Torres of the Bronx filed a complaint about Santos with the House Ethics Committee.

The nonprofit Campaign Legal Center also filed a complaint against Santos with the Federal Election Commission.

“Mr. Santos has failed to uphold the integrity expected of members of the House of Representatives,” Goldman and Torres said in their complaint.

Long Island’s other three GOP congressmen won seats on their preferred committees.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino of Bayport, who is beginning his second term, won a seat on the House Financial Services Committee while retaining his membership on the Homeland Security Committee.

"The financial services industry is the lifeblood of New York’s, and specifically Long Island’s, economy,” Garbarino said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be able to continue my efforts to strengthen Long Island's economy with this new committee assignment.”

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito of Island Park will join the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Homeland Security Committee.

“Here on Long Island and New York, our transportation and infrastructure are critically important to our everyday lives,” D’Esposito told Newsday in a telephone interview.

“There's so much involved in this committee that I think is unique to Long Island, whether it's the maritime industry, or whether it's the fact that we have major airlines like JetBlue,” D’Esposito said.

Rep. Nick LaLota, of Amityville, a U.S. Navy veteran and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, won a seat on the House Armed Services Committee. LaLota also will serve on Homeland Security, according to news reports. 

“The best job I ever had was serving as a young Naval Officer, deploying overseas three times with some of our nation’s bravest, most dedicated, and selfless men and women,” LaLota said in a statement.

LaLota said the committee assignment will help him serve his district, home to the 106th Rescue Wing of the New York Air National Guard, the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center, an active veterans community and more than 150 defense and aerospace companies.

Also joining the Homeland Security Committee will be Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

The Democrat-led House stripped Greene of her committee assignments in 2021 for support of political violence and antisemitic and racist remarks before her election in 2020.

Greene often stirs controversy with her remarks, most recently when she said that had she and former Trump aide Stephen Bannon organized the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol they “would have won,” adding, “Not to mention, we would’ve been armed.”