He can’t sit with them.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul did not invite scandal-scarred Rep. George Santos to a bipartisan congressional delegation meeting Wednesday, her office said.
Santos’ exclusion from the meeting was the latest blow to the embattled freshman GOP congressman, 34, who has been exposed for lying about everything from his educational background to his mother’s whereabouts on 9/11.
“We’re talking about their work on committees [in the meeting], and he’s not a committee member,” Hochul told Spectrum News Wednesday, referring to Santos’ decision to recuse himself from House committees in the wake of his public scandals.
Other New York Republicans– many of whom have already called on Santos to resign – told the outlet they were relieved by his absence.
“He’s literally taking all the oxygen out of the room,” Rep. Anthony D’Esposito said.
“Any work that we can do on either side of the aisle that is beneficial to the people that we represent — the focus is on George Santos.”
“No one noticed that George Santos was not here,” Rep. Mark Molinaro agreed.
When asked about the exclusion, Santos told Spectrum News that he had “no idea” what they were talking about.
His office later called it “unfortunate” that Santos was not invited, arguing that he is still a member of Congress despite forfeiting his committee assignments.
Both Hochul and Santos’ offices did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, pols on both sides of the aisle said the Wednesday meeting was constructive, even if there were some butted heads.
Republican Rep. Nick LaLota, of Long Island, for instance, pushed for beach restorations that would improve “quality of life and property values,” Spectrum News reported.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, on the other hand, called for more affordable housing for New Yorkers.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Hochul encouraged New Yorkers in Congress to help the state get started on its agenda for the coming years.
“I need them to be champions for more support, quicker approvals of some of the projects to get the infrastructure — shovels in the ground,” she said.
The Santos-free meeting also notably came just a few days after he raised eyebrows at President Biden’s State of the Union, where he apparently clashed with Sen. Mitt Romney.
“You don’t belong here,” the veteran Utah Republican told the serial liar as he took a primetime seat on the center aisle.
“I think it’s reprehensible that the senator would say such a thing to me in the demeaning way he said,” Santos later fired back.
“That wasn’t very Mormon of him.”
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