Disgraced former congressman George Santos has hit out at fellow Republicans after the loss of his former seat to Democrats in Tuesday’s special election. In a scathing group text, in which he called them “f***ing idiots”, he blamed their ousting of him for the defeat and wished them luck in fundraising next quarter.
Democratic Rep Tom Souzzi – the man who represented the district before Mr Santos won in 2022 – won back his old seat on Tuesday night in a closely-watched race against Republican nominee Mazi Pilip.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the House of Representatives have succeeded in impeaching Joe Biden’s top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, after the motion slipped to an embarrassing defeat last week.
The vote succeeded along party lines lines, winning 214-213. Three Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the articles of impeachment.
House GOP members accuse Mr Mayorkas of failing to stem record flows of migrants across the US-Mexico border, an issue their likely presidential candidate Donald Trump intends to make the central pillar of his election campaign this year.
Mr Mayorkas oversees border enforcement and immigration policies, such as the asylum process and the possible detention of migrants.