As expected, Speaker McCarthy led the House to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. McCarthy noted the disciplinary move was necessary because of Omar’s multiple “antisemitic and anti-American remarks,” according to Fox News.
On Thursday, the House approved the resolution to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee by a vote of 218-211, which fell along party lines.
During the contentious debate that preceded the vote, Democrats accused Republicans of racism and hypocrisy, claiming that McCarthy was ushering in a two-tier accountability system and not holding Republicans to the same standard as Democrats.
Omar responded to the move to remove her from the committee by accusing Republicans of racism:
“I am Muslim, I am an immigrant, and interestingly, from Africa,” Omar said. “Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy or that they see me as a powerful voice that needs to be silenced?”
McCarthy recently stated he was planning to take action to remove Omar from the important committee because of negative public statements about America and Israel. McCarthy offered multiple examples, including, “Israel has hypnotized the world; may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
Members of “the squad” were quick to condemn Republicans who voted to dismiss Omar, accusing GOP members of “racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body.”
Ocasio-Cortez said, “This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America.”
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) accused Republicans of racism and religious bias, saying: “Could it be the way that she looks? Could it be her religious practices? Because it’s clear if she were on the other side of the aisle, we would not be having this debate today.”
Chairman of the House Ethics Committee, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), responded to the charges of racism by noting that Republicans are only following the “roadmap previously approved” by the Democratic-controlled 117th Congress.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) stated that she had witnessed Omar’s antisemitism:
“As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I’ve sat there and heard the representative actually spew anti-American rhetoric as well.”
Malliotakis said of Omar: “I’ve been in that committee room where the representative equates Israel and the United States to Hamas and the Taliban. Absolutely unacceptable for a member of that Committee.”
The resolution noted that all members of the Foreign Affairs Committee should be held to an “equal standard of conduct due to the international sensitivities and national security concerns under the jurisdiction of this committee.”
The resolution concluded: “Representative Omar, by her own words, 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 security.”
At the 2:06 mark of this Fox News report, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) shares why Omar was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, noting that she is not self-aware and cannot comprehend why her past statements led to her removal.
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