Barely Speaker Kevin McCarthy has run into difficulty from within his own ranks as he looks to fulfill his pledge to remove Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. McCarthy has vowed to deny Omar a seat on the committee because of past comments she has made that are critical of Israel. But if he calls for a full House vote on her removal and loses, it would be another embarrassing setback for McCarthy, who needed 15 ballots just to be elected Speaker.
McCarthy has been trying to exact revenge for the votes in the previous Democratic-controlled House to remove Reps. Paul Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene from their committee assignments for threatening violence against other House members, including Omar, who is a Muslim and Somali refugee.
RELATED STORY: Barely Speaker Kevin McCarthy has no debt ceiling negotiating legs to stand on
CBS News reported that Omar told reporters on Tuesday that there were even some Republicans on the panel who consider the move to boot her “unjust” and “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."
Omar drew distinctions between former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to hold the vote to kick Greene and Gosar off of their committees in the last Congress and what McCarthy is seeking to do now.
"They threatened the lives of their colleagues. They posed danger to folks that they could serve on committees with, to the actual institution they were sworn to protect," she said. "Unless McCarthy can say how myself, Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell are a danger to the institution, our colleagues, then he's not following the example that was set by Speaker Pelosi."
McCarthy can only afford four GOP defections in order to get the simple majority in the full House needed to remove Omar from the committee. But CBS News and others have reported that two Republican representatives, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Victoria Spartz of Indiana, have indicated that they will vote against stripping Omar of her seat on Foreign Affairs.
And McCarthy may have reason to rue the House GOP’s decision to ban proxy voting. That’s because Rep. Greg Steube of Florida will be home in Sarasota for "several weeks" recovering from a 25-foot fall from a ladder.
As Laura Clawson noted, McCarthy was able to remove California Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff from the House Intelligence Committee on spurious grounds. As speaker, McCarthy had the unilateral power to remove them because the House Intelligence Committee is a select committee.
RELATED STORY: In an act of 'political vengeance,' McCarthy blocks Swalwell and Schiff from intelligence committee
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi exercised the same power in 2021 when she blocked McCarthy from placing Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana on the House Jan. 6 Select Committee, where they could have mucked up the probe. Jordan and Banks both voted to challenge certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral win after the invasion of the Capitol.
But it would require a simple majority vote of the full House to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee because it’s a standing committee. Pelosi got a majority of the House to remove Gosar and Greene from their committee assignments.
The Hill reported that 11 Republicans, seven of whom are still in Congress, voted with Democrats to boot Greene from her committees. Former Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois were the only two Republicans who voted to oust Gosar from his committee seats.
During the 2020 campaign, Greene posted an image of herself holding a gun alongside images of progressive “Squad” members, which includes Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib, that encouraged going on the “offense against these socialists.” Yet because of his sweetheart deal with Greene to gain her support for his speakership bid, McCarthy has given Greene seats on the House Oversight Committee and the Homeland Security Committee.
Mace and Spartz both voted against removing Gosar and Greene from their committee assignments. CNN reported that Spartz issued a statement in which she said that “two wrongs do not make a right.”
“Speaker Pelosi took unprecedented actions last Congress to remove Reps. Greene and Gosar from their committees without proper due process. Speaker McCarthy is taking unprecedented actions this Congress to deny some committee assignments to the Minority without proper due process again,” Spartz continued.
“As I spoke against it on the House floor two years ago, I will not support this charade again,” the congresswoman said.
Mace also indicated in a CNN interview that she is likely to oppose booting Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. “I’m going to treat everybody equally. I want to be consistent on it.”
News outlets have reported that several other House Republicans have expressed reservations about booting Omar from Foreign Affairs, but have not announced how they would vote. They include Reps. David Joyce of Ohio and David Valadao of California.
Politico reported that Democratic House leaders are working to ensure that they have no defections on any vote to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, which could come as early as next week once both parties finalize their committee assignments. Omar is a member of the Congressional Progressive and Black Caucuses.
Among those expressing support are several House Jewish Democrats who in the past have criticized Omar for her remarks about Israel. Omar has apologized for some of her comments. Politico quoted fellow Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips as saying:
“She will be the first to tell you that we both disagree on a lot of things. I love Israel, and I will defend it wholeheartedly. She’s deeply troubled by the Israeli government. But that doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be a voice on the Foreign Affairs Committee, even if it is painful for me.”
Asked about whether his Democratic colleagues would come to the same conclusion: “I think some are struggling, but I ultimately believe yes.”
In 2019, Omar, who had recently been elected to her first House term,
apologized for implying in tweets that lawmakers’ support for Israel was driven by campaign donations from pro-Israel groups. Her apology came after Pelosi and her top lieutenants issued a statement rebuking her for the “use of anti-Semitic tropes.”
In 2021,
a group of 12 Democratic House members released a statement criticizing Omar for "equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban." This came after the Minnesota Democrat tweeted that "we have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban."
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was among those signing that statement, told Politico:
“There’s no reason to remove Congresswoman Omar from her committees except revenge. … We removed Congressman [Paul] Gosar and [Marjorie] Taylor Greene because they threatened violence against other members, including death. That is not anything that Congresswoman Omar did.”
If she retains her seat, Omar is set to be the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee’s subpanel overseeing Africa.