There could be a path for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to keep her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee despite House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) putting her committee assignment on the chopping block.
McCarthy blocked Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) from serving on the Intelligence Committee, but keeping Omar off Foreign Affairs for past antisemitic statements will be more difficult.
The roster for select committees, including permanent ones like the Intelligence Committee, is decided unilaterally by the House speaker with input from the minority leader. Removing a member from standing committees such as Foreign Affairs, though, requires a vote on the House floor. With only four votes to lose, McCarthy may not have the Republican support needed to boot her.
SCHIFF, SWALWELL, AND OMAR SAY MCCARTHY WILL ‘REGRET’ BOOTING THEM FROM COMMITTEES
Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) have indicated they won’t back a resolution to remove her, and several other Republicans say they’re undecided on how they will vote. Spartz views McCarthy’s vow to be retaliation for Democrats stripping Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) of their committee assignments in 2021.
“Two wrongs do not make a right. Speaker Pelosi took unprecedented actions last Congress to remove Reps. Greene and Gosar from their committees without proper due process. Speaker McCarthy is taking unprecedented actions this Congress to deny some committee assignments to the minority without proper due process again,” Spartz said in a statement Tuesday.
Mace made her views known last month.
Reps. David Valadao (R-CA), David Joyce (R-OH), and Tim Burchett (R-TN) are on the fence, and Politico reported that Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) might be persuaded to vote with Democrats as well. Though some Democrats have taken issue with Omar’s criticism of Israel and use of harmful stereotypes against Jewish people, the caucus is expected to vote in unison to keep her on the panel.
The vote is expected as early as this week, and Democrats are reportedly lobbying undecided and centrist Republicans. Republicans hold a 222-213 majority in the House, meaning they can usually only afford to lose four votes to pass the resolution without any Democrats. The GOP will have one fewer vote for the foreseeable future because Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) suffered serious injuries after falling from a ladder and is expected to be out for several weeks.
At a press conference with Schiff and Swalwell on Wednesday, Omar claimed the move to oust her was based on vengeance.
“I do believe that when and if this vote comes, it will be a moment of clarity, and I hope that many of these R’s will have a conscience and will not prove to their constituents and the American people just how much of partisan hacks they are and how much hypocrisy they have,” she said.
McCarthy said it would be “odd” for a Republican not to support his push to remove her “based upon her comments against Israel” in a press briefing on Tuesday.
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Keeping Omar off the committee stems mainly from two instances of apparent antisemitism, which she has apologized for even as she remains critical of Israel. In 2012, she tweeted, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” In a second instance that earned her a formal rebuke from House Democrats, she responded to a journalist’s remarks about American politicians’ focus on Israel by saying, “It’s all about the Benjamins.”
McCarthy justified removing Swalwell and Schiff from their posts on the Intelligence Committee by arguing Schiff lied to the public about Russia’s alleged ties to former President Donald Trump and that Swalwell’s relationship with an alleged Chinese spy raises national security concerns.
