Steve King removed from all committee assignments
Republican Rep. Steve King of Iowa has been stripped of committee assignments following racist comments he made to The New York Times in a report published last week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Monday.
Mr. McCarthy announced that the House Republican Steering Committee, which oversees committee assignments, met Monday night and made a decision that Mr. King “will not be serving on committees in this Congress.”
Earlier Monday, a pair of the Senate’s most high-profile Republicans on Monday sharply condemned Mr. King, the highest ranking GOP officials to publicly rebuke Mr. King after comments he made that were seen as sympathetic to white supremacists.
The criticism from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Utah freshman Sen. Mitt Romney comes as the House plans to vote as soon as Tuesday on a resolution to disapprove of the actions of Mr. King, who has a history of making incendiary comments related to race and immigration.
“There is no place in the Republican Party, the Congress or the country for an ideology of racial supremacy of any kind,” Mr. McConnell said in a statement released from his office. “I have no tolerance for such positions and those who espouse these views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. Rep. King’s statements are unwelcome and unworthy of his elected position.”
Mr. McConnell added, “If he doesn’t understand why ‘white supremacy’ is offensive, he should find another line of work.”
Mr. Romney told CNN that Mr. King should “step aside.”
In an interview with the Times in a story published last week, Mr. King asked, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”
The comments caused widespread outrage, including from many members of his own party. Several high profile lawmakers called for Mr. King to be stripped of his committee assignments.
The House will vote as soon as Tuesday on the resolution to disapprove of Mr. King, Democratic sources told CNN. The resolution being proposed by South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the No. 3 member of Democratic House leadership and the highest ranking African American member of Congress. The resolution, however, is not as severe as a censure resolution that other Democrats — like Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and Bobby Rush of Illinois — are proposing.
Mr. King met Monday afternoon with Mr. McCarthy of California. Mr. McCarthy, the top Republican in the chamber, said over the weekend that Mr. King’s language has “no place in America” and that “action will be taken.”
“That is not the America I know, and it is most definitely not the party of Lincoln,” Mr. McCarthy told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I have a scheduled meeting with him on Monday, and I will tell you this: I’ve watched on the other side that they do not take action when their members say something like this. Action will be taken. I’m having a serious conversation with Congressman Steve King on his future and role in this Republican Party.”