The GOP is facing an uphill battle in trying to remove Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, as several Republican lawmakers in the House publicly stated their opposition to the act throughout the month of January.
Removing Omar from the committee has been a centerpiece goal for Republican lawmakers, who point to the congresswoman’s statements about Israel in 2019 Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have accused Omar of being anti-Semitic.
Republican Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz dismissed the GOP’s efforts to oust Omar as “bread and circuses” in a statement Tuesday, while drawing parallels to the Democratic Party removing Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Arizona Rep. Paul Gossar from their committee assignments in the 117th Congress. (RELATED: Gingrich Defends McCarthy’s Threat To Remove Dems From Committees, Says Pelosi ‘Set The Precedent’)
“Speaker Pelosi took unprecedented actions last Congress to remove Reps. Greene and Gosar from their committees without proper due process,” Spartz said in the statement. “I spoke against it on the House floor two years ago, I will not support this charade again.”
Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace suggested she would not support a measure to remove Omar from her role, CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju tweeted Monday. Mace cited her past support for both Greene and Gossar keeping their respective committee assignments in the previous Congress.
“I’m going to treat everybody equally,” Mace reportedly told Raju. “I want to be consistent on it.”
Nancy Mace signaled she is likely to oppose measure to boot Ilhan Omar from Foreign Affairs, noting she opposed kicking Marjorie Taylor Greene and Gosar from spots
“I’m going to treat everybody equally,” she told me. “I want to be consistent on it.”
GOP can only lose four R votes https://t.co/MHUoPcv8y5— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 23, 2023
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly promised to remove Omar from her committee seat, citing the congresswoman’s past statements.
“Congresswoman Omar, her antisemitic comments that have gone forward, we’re not going to allow her to be on Foreign Affairs,” McCarthy told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo during a November appearance on the network.
Two additional unnamed house members told the Washington Examiner they are considering the proposal to remove Omar but are still conflicted, according to a Tuesday report from the outlet.
The GOP needs a simple majority to remove Omar from her seat. The party can only lose four votes due to their slim House majority.
“It would be odd to me that members would not support that based upon her comments against Israel,” McCarthy told reporters, according to the Washington Examiner.
Omar pushed back against McCarthy’s vow to oust her Tuesday, saying several congresspeople are “privately” on her side in the situation.
“They are trying to do whatever it is that they can within their conference to make sure there is no vote to remove me from the Foreign Affairs Committee,” the congresswoman said, according to CBS News.
