The House set up a Friday vote that will determine whether Rep. George Santos will be thrown out of Congress, and the New York Republican used the eve of the vote defending himself against allegations, bashing other members and criticizing the process that got him to this point.

At a cold early morning press conference in front of the Capitol, Santos sounded somewhat jaded by the third attempt to purge him as he leveled with the press and referred to himself in the third person.

For Rep. George Santos, the clock is ticking dangerously close to midnight.

The House is set to vote Friday on a resolution to expel the embattled New York Republican, marking the third and most serious attempt to boot Santos from Congress amid his mounting legal and ethical troubles. 

The US House of Representatives will vote within hours on whether to expel New York Republican George Santos after a damning ethics report, fraud charges and fabrications about his past.

The Republican-led body failed in two previous roll calls to oust Mr Santos.

But the embattled congressman has conceded it may well be third time lucky for his political enemies.

As colleagues debated his future on Thursday, he refused to resign and accused them of bullying him.

House Democrats and Republicans finally have something they agree on: booting Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from Congress.

Driving the news: In an email sent to Democratic congressional offices on Thursday, Rep. Robert Garcia's (D-Calif.) office advocated for Republicans' resolution to expel the embattled Long Islander.

"Rep. Garcia strongly believes Rep. Santos's actions and behavior do not reflect credibly on the House and tarnishes this institution we love and encourages a YES vote tomorrow," the email said.

Embattled Rep. George Santos made clear Thursday morning that he won’t resign from Congress, with an expulsion vote likely just a day away.

Pressed why he wouldn’t give up his seat, Santos said: “If I leave, they win. … This is bullying.”

The House vote that will decide the fate of Rep. George Santos will likely be pushed to Friday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told Axios, delaying the likely ouster of the scandal-plagued Republican after his refusal to simply resign.

The delay is likely to please Santos, who previously complained on X spaces that the Thursday vote coincided with his second wedding anniversary. “It’s kind of not cool,” he said of the timing.

Earlier this month, the House Ethics Committee released its report on embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who has faced a litany of federal charges he pled not guilty to. That same day as the report was released on November 16, multiple members from both parties announced they would be filing resolutions to expel Santos. Such resolutions have been filed in the past, but there's never been the necessary two-thirds required to actually expel the congressman. The Ethics Committee report could now change that when yet another vote comes up.

The investigative subcommittee of the House Committee on Ethics released a 56-page report on Nov. 16 that found Rep. George Santos of New York “placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law, and ethical principles.”

“The ISC’s investigation revealed a complex web of unlawful activity involving Representative Santos’ campaign, personal, and business finances,” the report said. “Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”