The House is slated to vote Wednesday on a resolution to remove progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from her position on the House Foreign Affairs Committee after days of uncertainty over whether the measure had enough GOP support to pass.
The resolution, introduced by freshman Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), takes aim at Omar’s 2019 comments that were criticized by members on both sides of the aisle as echoing antisemitic tropes.
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“Representative Ilan Omar suggested that Jewish people and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) were buying political support, saying, ‘It’s all about the Benjamins, baby,’ leading to condemnation from Republicans and Democrats alike,” the resolution says, alleging that she “doubled down on her stance at a forum in Washington D.C. by saying, ‘I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.'”
Democrats have slammed Republicans’ vow to remove her from the panel, calling it an act of “political vengeance” in response to Democrats and a handful of GOP lawmakers voting to remove conservative Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) from their committees after a string of controversies during the last Congress.
The move comes in the wake of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) removing Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) from the House Intelligence Committee — Schiff for pushing the Trump-Russia collusion narrative and Swalwell for his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.
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The decision comes hours after Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN), one of three GOP lawmakers publicly opposed to the Omar resolution, came out in support of it. The measure is expected to include an appeal process as a concession to Spartz.
Embattled GOP Rep. George Santos (NY) announced Tuesday morning that he would temporarily recuse himself from his committee assignments, with Omar playing a role in his decision as Democrats pointed to the New York Republican remaining on committees as a signal that Republicans were politically motivated.
