Republicans Set to Oust Rep. Omar From Foreign Affairs Panel

WASHINGTON (AP/Hamodia) — Newly empowered House Republicans are preparing to oust Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born lawmaker, from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over her past anti-Israel comments — and as payback after Democrats booted far-right GOP lawmakers from committees.

A procedural vote set for Wednesday would gauge Republican support for the move against the Muslim lawmaker.

Omar has made comments in which she grouped Israel’s actions together with those of the Taliban and Hamas, and has made accusations of America being biased towards Israel because of money from Jewish people, playing into an age-old antisemitic trope that Jews run the world through financial pressure. She has apologized, played up support from far-left Jewish organizations, and claimed that she was unaware of how her words were understood to be antisemitic.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has expressed his plans to remove the Minnesota Democrat after he blocked Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell, both California Democrats, from rejoining the House Intelligence Committee once the GOP took control of the chamber in January. Unlike most committees, appointments to the Intelligence Committee are the prerogative of the speaker.

Republicans said they were waiting for Democrats to formally nominate Omar to the committee, which she served on during the last Congress. Once the committee roster is approved by the House, then Republicans would move to strip her of the seat.

Democrats were assessing their options. They had yet to formally submit their roster for a vote, which was delaying the committee’s formation.

The resolution proposed by Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, a former official in the Trump administration, says “Omar’s comments have brought dishonor to the House of Representatives.”

Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the committee chairman, argued against her inclusion on the committee in a recent closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans.

“It’s just that her worldview of Israel is so diametrically opposed to the committee’s,” McCaul said. “I don’t mind having differences of opinion, but this goes beyond that.” Having her on the committee, he said, “creates dysfunction.”

Omar said the issues Republicans have cited in opposing her are a pretext to justify their actions. In reality, “it is about revenge. It’s about appeasing the former president,” Omar said a recent news conference at the Capitol, referring to Donald Trump.

“This is about vengeance. This is about spite. This is about politics,” said Rep. James McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, as Republicans called a hurried meeting late Tuesday to consider the move against Omar.

Omar said that she, along with Schiff and Swalwell, who were House managers in Trump’s impeachment trials, “have been a thorn in the back of the previous, disgraced president.”

McCarthy, R-Calif., has strained to ensure he has enough support from his Republican ranks to oust Omar. Republicans command a slim majority and several GOP lawmakers have been reluctant to engage in tit-for-tat retribution against colleagues. But GOP leaders are moving ahead after several holdouts signaled their support.

The drive against Omar comes as embattled Republican Rep. George Santos said he would step aside from his own committee assignments as the House Ethics Committee investigates his actions. The New York Republican has acknowledged embellishments and even lies about his education, work experience and other aspects of his personal and professional life.

Several Republicans have been wary of taking action against Omar while they are also having to answer for the many questions emerging about Santos.