Since then, the allegations have only piled up. He has been accused of a range of fabrications, from scamming Amish dog breeders in Pennsylvania to claiming his mother died in the 9/11 terror attacks.

In May, he was charged with 23 felonies, including wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds. He denies the allegations and is awaiting trial.

But the final blow came last month, when the House ethics committee found he "blatantly stole from his campaign" and exploited "every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit".

Among its many allegations, the panel accused him of spending campaign money on Botox treatments, credit card debt, OnlyFans - a platform where users pay for content, including pornography - and trips to the Hamptons seaside enclave in New York.

Expulsion votes are rare in Congress and require the backing of two-thirds of the House.

Two previous efforts to remove Mr Santos failed, after some lawmakers suggested he deserved due process and that it would set a bad precedent to remove someone over allegations.

A group of four New York Republicans, who were elected alongside Mr Santos and have long sought to give him the boot, disputed that.

"The precedent that is set is that we hold members of Congress to a higher standard," said one, Anthony D'Esposito. "The people of New York's third congressional district need representation."

Lawmakers can finally "stop talking about him", Mr D'Esposito added. "It shouldn't have come to this."

"He should have held himself accountable. He should have resigned," he said.

Republican Jim Jordan, who voted against the expulsion, told the BBC he worried about the move.

"Who's next? You let due process play out. The voters elected him. You've got to be careful in taking a vote to kick out of Congress someone the voters sent to Congress," he said.

Mr Santos had remained defiant, refusing to resign despite many calls from both sides of the aisle to step down.

"This place is run on hypocrisy," he told reporters earlier this week. "If they want me to leave Congress, they're going to have to take that tough vote."

Jody Kassfinkel, who voted for Mr Santos but has since campaigned to have him removed, told the BBC that his expulsion is "a win for democracy".

"We knew this was the only way to go because this man has no shame and he was not going to resign on his own," she said.

Constituents in his district also welcomed the news.

"He really shouldn't have been in Congress," Miriam Forman told the BBC. "Even to get into graduate school, you have to demonstrate some gift for doing what you say you are going to do. It doesn't happen with congressmen."

Another constituent said "good riddance".