The US scandal MP George Santos, who has been criticized for numerous inventions in his CV, does not want to sit on any congressional committees for the time being, several US media reports. The Republican politician from New York reportedly announced Tuesday at a meeting with party friends that he would step down temporarily from the two House committees to which he was appointed in mid-January. According to the "Washington Post", the 34-year-old justified this by saying that he was a "distraction".

"He just felt like there was so much drama about the situation," Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told CNN after the meeting. Santos himself did not initially confirm the plans and reports.

Santos, 34, was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in November's congressional elections. The newspaper "New York Times" then took a close look at Santos' CV. For example, he claimed to have been an "experienced investor on Wall Street." It finally turned out that Santos was never employed by the companies mentioned. The newspaper was also unable to verify his university degree. Santos has also been accused of misleading the public about his family history and alleged Jewish background. In an interview, the Republican admitted that he had "whitewashed" his resume.

Santos is now also in the sights of the judiciary. The New York prosecutor's office began investigating in December. According to media reports, the Ministry of Justice is also keeping an eye on Santos because of his campaign financing. Recently, a number of Republicans had demanded that Santos give up his seat in parliament – ​​but he had previously ruled that out. The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, had emphasized that he wanted to regulate the Santos case internally.

Santos' resignation would be tricky for Republicans in the House of Representatives. In the congressional elections, they regained a majority in the congress chamber – but only by a hair's breadth. Should Santos resign, there would have to be a new election in his constituency. It couldn't be ruled out that the Democrats would win the seat and the Republican majority would melt away.

In the midterm elections in November, the Republicans won a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Santos also contributed to this with his victory in a New York constituency. In the Senate, on the other hand, President Joe Biden's Democrats were able to defend their majority.