Republican calls to impeach Ilhan Omar appear to be gaining momentum as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he was confident in the possibility of The removal of the Minnesota Democrat from the Foreign Affairs Committee Under emergency procedures today, Wednesday.
McCarthy himself confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that he had voted to remove Omar from the committee, in line with a promise he made last year before the Republican Party won control of the House of Representatives.
With the midterm elections approaching, the California Republican has vowed to pull Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell WIlhan Omar is one of the committees in Congress.
Kevin McCarthy
Now, McCarthy and the House GOP leadership are optimistic that they will get enough votes on Wednesday to remove Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, despite the party’s narrow majority in Congress.
It would take less than a handful of dissidents for the motion to impeach Ilhan Omar not to pass, but McCarthy and the party leadership seem to have succeeded in convincing the initially reluctant House Republicans to support the move.
Republican Representative Victoria Spartz, who initially opposed Omar’s removal, saying the initiative lacked “due process,” said she was now ready to support the decision as McCarthy added “due process” to it.
But two other Republican members of the House of Representatives, Nancy Mays and Ken Buck of Colorado, said they would oppose Ilhan Omar’s removal from the committee. House Democrats, who have strongly condemned the decision to expel the Minnesota representative from the committee, are expected to oppose the move.
Tuesday’s decision calls for Omar’s removal over some controversial statements about Jews and anti-Semitism, which she made in 2019 and 2021, which many on both sides of the political spectrum said were anti-Semitic.
According to House Majority Leader Steve Scales, the decision to remove Ilhan Omar will be brought forward after another resolution is approved to outline the broad lines chosen by each party’s committee.
The calls to remove Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee come at the same time as Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar of Arizona after being removed from committees over the past two years over their controversial views and online activities.
Democrats describe the decision to remove Ilhan Omar as hypocritical, as Republican George Santos was appointed to two committees despite being embroiled in scandals about lying about many aspects of his biography and career.
Santos, who has resisted calls to resign from several Republican and Democratic members of the House of Representatives, said on Tuesday he would suspend his committee’s duties “until he can clear everything up.”