[wpstatistics stat=usersonline]Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, was kicked off the Foreign Affairs Committee by House Republicans due to her questionable past remarks towards Israel and doubts about her objectivity.
Along party lines, the vote was 218–211.
Republicans and Democrats alike criticised Omar during her first term for tweets that referenced antisemitic stereotypes. Although she issued an apology for those tweets, she hasn’t stopped speaking out against the impact of Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee—a potent pro-Israel lobby—on American politics.
Rep. Max Miller, a Republican from Ohio, presented the motion, which claimed that Omar “has disqualified herself from serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, a panel that is viewed by nations around the world as speaking for Congress on matters of international importance and national importance.”
In a statement, Miller—one of the two Jewish Republicans in the House—said that Omar “cannot be an objective decision-maker on the Foreign Affairs Committee given her biases against Israel and the Jewish people.”
Omar, who has personally experienced anti-Muslim prejudice since taking office, claimed to reporters last week that the committee’s decision to remove her was “purely partisan.”
Omar claimed in a moving address on Thursday on the House floor that she is being persecuted because she is an African Muslim immigrant.
Is it any wonder that people don’t think I’m qualified to talk about US foreign policy? or that they believe my strong voice should be muffled?” said she. “I came to Congress not to be silent.
She continued, “Her experiences as a civil war survivor and immigrant offer her a valuable and unique perspective on American foreign policy.”
Although Democrats at the time chastised Omar for her previous remarks, they came together in support of her before the vote. Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the house, stated on Thursday that the removal motion was motivated by “political revenge” rather than accountability.
Rep. Omar has undoubtedly erred, according to Jeffries, who addressed reporters. “Ilhan Omar issued an apology. She’s made it clear that she will grow from her errors and is making an effort to mend fences with the Jewish community.”
Republicans justify Omar’s action by pointing to Democratic votes that removed GOP representatives Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee assignments in 2021.
Due to Greene’s prior involvement with antisemitism, conspiracy theories, and demands for political violence, she was removed from committee responsibilities. After Gosar posted a cartoon film of himself killing Democratic colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the House censured him. Given the current Republican majority in the House, Greene and Gosar have been reinstated to their committee positions.
Additionally, Republican leadership recently prevented Democratic representatives from California, Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, from joining the House Intelligence Committee.
For years, some Republicans have demanded that Omar be removed from the committee. However, other people raised questions this week regarding due process, and it wasn’t certain that the resolution had enough votes to succeed given the razor-thin Republican majority.
Only when language was added allowing members to appeal their removal to the House Ethics Committee did Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., approve the motion. Following a chat with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican from Colorado, withdrew his objection. In that conversation, Buck suggested that future removals be decided by a majority vote in the equally divided Ethics Committee.
Buck stated on Wednesday, “He committed to the process of getting something like that done,” and he further stated that Congress must “stop this nonsense of kicking people off committees because it’s just wrong.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, had opposed the action all week. However, on Thursday, she informed reporters that she would vote in favour of McCarthy’s proposal to establish a 30-day timeline for handling removals through the Ethics Committee.
“We shook hands … and I got this commitment from him,” said Mace. “Due process is very important to me, and preserving the institution is what this will do.”
After being one of the first Muslim women elected to the House in 2018, Omar and other progressive women of colour have come under intense criticism.
Then-President Donald Trump tweeted in 2019 that Omar and her “the squad” comrades ought to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” The crowd chanted “send her back” during one of the former president’s rallies when Omar, who was born in Somalia and lived in a camp for refugees, was mentioned.