(Bloomberg) -- The House Ethics Committee handed Speaker Mike Johnson a possible way out of a difficult vote Wednesday to expel embattled Republican George Santos from Congress.

The panel announced Tuesday it will disclose “its next course of action” by Nov. 17 related to allegations of Santos’ misconduct, a plan that could buy the newly elected speaker some time and forestall the expulsion vote.

Santos, 35, last week pleaded not guilty to the latest charges filed against him by federal prosecutors. He has denied wrongdoing since he was first indicted in May on campaign finance violations. He appeared in federal court on Long Island last Friday to answer to 10 additional charges that accused him of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and running up unauthorized expenses on his campaign contributors’ credit cards.

He also faces allegations of misconduct in the House, and the expulsion proceedings were initiated by several fellow New York Republicans.

There was no immediate comment from Johnson’s office on the Ethics Commitee’s announcement. But he has suggested that he’d prefer delaying any expulsion vote. He expressed concern that the freshman congressman, whose district comprises parts of Nassau County and the New York City borough of Queens, has not been convicted of a crime or, as yet, slapped with any official ethics breaches.

“We have to allow due process to play itself out,” Johnson said in an interview on Fox News. 

Santos has responded to demands that he resign or be expelled by saying on social media: “I’m entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking.”

Earlier: Santos Pleads Not Guilty to New Campaign Finance Charges

Johnson also has pointed out that his party holds a razor-thin 221-212 majority in the House. If Santos were expelled now, the new speaker could not absorb more than three GOP defections in otherwise party-line votes to pass legislation.

Still, it was Representative Anthony D’Esposito — backed by several other Republicans from New York — who triggered a process last week to require a floor vote on Santos’s expulsion by Wednesday night. All are freshmen, and most are in politically competitive seats.

“Anybody who’s been awake and reading the newspaper and looking at Twitter understands” why Santos should be expelled, D’Esposito said last week. In fact, the House has been grappling all session with how to deal with Santos’ extravagant false claims and later criminal indictment for campaign finance violations.

Representative Mike Lawler of New York argued alongside D’Esposito there is enough evidence to oust Santos, in part because his former campaign treasurer pleaded guilty and admitted that she conspired with Santos to commit wire fraud and identity theft, make false statements.

The Ethics Committee said in its statement that an investigative subcommittee assigned to the Santos matter since February “has contacted approximately 40 witnesses, reviewed more than 170,000 pages of documents, and authorized 37 subpoenas.”

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