Mccaul was key in getting Omar off committee
WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Thursday, at the urging of U.S. Rep. Michael Mccaul of Austin, voted to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from her spot on the Foreign Affairs Committee over past comments critical of Israel.
The Minnesota Democrat and Somali-born Muslim lawmaker has apologized for the remarks, which she has said she now understands were viewed as antisemitic. Those included suggestions that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-israel lobbying group, was buying political support, saying, “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.”
But Republicans, including Mccaul — who chairs the committee and made the case for removing her to GOP colleagues in a closed-door meeting — say the comments are disqualifying for a seat on the panel that oversees American diplomacy, including the country’s relationship with Israel.
“The House Foreign Affairs Committee has a long history of working in a bipartisan fashion to promote diplomacy and protect U.S. national security,” Mccaul said. “At a time when our adversaries are becoming more aggressive, it’s critical our committee work to advance and strengthen our alliances — not hurt them. Unfortunately, Rep. Omar has made some very divisive and incendiary comments about Israel and the Jewish community, upsetting many people.”
Democrats slammed Republicans as hypocritical, pointing to past comments they deemed antisemitic by GOP members, including accusing Jewish Democratic donors such as George Soros of trying to “buy” elections. They also pointed to attacks on Omar by Republi
cans, such as Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who suggested Omar was a terrorist and referred to her as the “jihad squad.”
“This is just a bunch of racist gaslighting, we all know it,” said Rep. Cori Bush, a New York Democrat.
The House voted along party lines, 218-211, to remove Omar, who said in a speech on the floor before the vote that she would not be deterred.
Omar portrayed the move against her as an extension of Republican attacks on former President Barack Obama, who former President Donald Trump and others falsely suggested was born in Kenya and was a Muslim. Omar said their attacks were designed to make Obama seem “less American.”
“Well 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?
“Representation matters,” she said. “Continuing to expand our ideas of who is American and who can partake in the American experiment is a good thing.”
Omar said that off the committee, her voice will “get louder and stronger.”
“I am here to stay, and I am here to be a voice against harms around the world, and advocate for a better world,” she said.
While Texans voted along party lines, one Texas Republican said before the vote that he was uneasy with it.
“If we go down this road, we start picking people off for X, Y or Z, where does it stop?” Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio told CNN. “In reality, it won’t stop, and then we will spend all our energy, all our time doing things like this and not what the American public put House Republicans in the majority to do.”
Gonzales blamed Democrats for setting the precedent when they stripped Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona of committee assignments in the last Congress. Greene has pushed conspiracy theories online, including about 9/11, and Gosar lost his committee spot after posting a video depicting himself killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-cortez, a New York Democrat.