© Vin McNamee / Getty; Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Astronaut Scott Kelly (inset) comments on George Santos' seats on congressional committees, including the Committee on Space and Technology.
Representative George Santos, R-New York, faced further ridicule after being assigned to House committees.
Santos was nominated Wednesday by the GOP co-chairs of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and the Small Business Committee.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who previously chaired the steering committee, announced that Santos will join the committee for lying about the congressman's previous election.
Santos, who has refused repeated calls to resign, has been investigated for various ethical and lying complaints. After announcing the committee appointment on Tuesday, the New York Republican received a barrage of mockery on social media.
"Former NASA astronaut and George Santos @Santos4Congress @Santos4Congress on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology," retired astronaut Scott Kelly, twin brother of Arizona's Democratic senator. Mark Kelly tweeted. "To infinity and beyond!"
"George Santos, the first man on the moon, has been nominated by the Republican Party's Science and Space Committee and Small Business Committee," the @MeidasTouch account wrote, along with a photo of Santos in a space suit. "Unfortunately, the last part of that sentence is correct."
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"Well, the Science Committee would certainly benefit from having Dr. George Santos, the first Nobel laureate in Physics, on the committee," political consultant Rick Wilson tweeted.
"I am personally pleased to have Santos on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology," Science Friday radio host Charles Bergquist said in a tweet. "I mean, he invented the light bulb and he was an astronaut, where do you get that kind of experience?"
Historian Diana Butler Bass writes, "George Santos would do well to win the Nobel Prize in Astrophysics at the Science, Technology and Space Commission."
"Republicans put George Santos, who founded Apple in his garage in 1976, on the House Small Business Committee," said progressive analyst Brian Tyler Cohen. "A true American success story."
"Winning a seat on the Santos Small Business Commission is a big day for auto insurance companies around the world," columnist David Lazar wrote.
Historian Michael Beschlos tweeted: "Maybe Santos will win the Nobel prize for small business."
"It certainly suits George Santos that he invented science and business," author Zach Hunt tweeted.
In comments to CNN's Manu Raje, Texas Republican Small Business Commission Chairman Roger Williams defended Santos' appointment to the commission as "selective."
"I don't condone what he did," Williams said. "I don't think anyone knows. But that's not my role. Elected, representing a million people.
McCarthy said Tuesday that despite the "problem" that Santos was appointed to the committees, a Santos employee replaced McCarthy's chief of staff to collect donations.
"My staff raised concerns when one of the employees came forward as my chief of staff, and they fired this person, sir. Santos found out," McCarthy told reporters.
Newsweek has contacted Santos' office for comment.
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