By Joseph Green-Bishop
Texas Metro News Correspondent
Newly-elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) is attempting to have Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) removed from the very influential and prestigious Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives.
Speaker McCarthy, who waselected to his post on January 17 of this year, has accused the Minnesota-based legislator of being antisemitic, and of being a supporter of terrorist organizations. He also said that her words and actions did not reflect traditional American values.
In his role, Speaker McCarthy has the authority to dismiss any member of a House select committee. In order to remove a member of a standing committee, such as Foreign Affairs, the Speaker must win a majority vote of all 435 members in the House. The Foreign Affairs Committee in a standing committee.
Members of McCarthy’s leadership team have reviewed speeches and policy papers that Congresswoman Omar has made or written since she became a member of Congress in 2019.
They share them with other Republican members if they enlarge the Speaker’s position.
The Congresswoman has denied being antisemitic. She stated that she has Jewish friends and allies. “It is my hope that Republicans will have a conscience,” she said during a press conference held earlier this week in Washington. I hope that my opponents do not prove to their constituents, and to other Americans that they are hypocrites and political hacks, she added.
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) , the senior Democratic member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that he believed that Speaker McCarthy would fail in his bid to remove the congresswoman.
“There are already two Republicans who have said they will not vote to remove member Omar. I think that others will come aboard.” Congressman Meeks added that the Democratic Caucus in the House supported Congresswoman Omar. There are 213 Democratic members in the House, and 222 Republicans.
Congresswoman Omar, one of three Muslims in the U.S. House, has been a supporter of Palestinian rights while in Washington. She has received death threats, and has a security detail provided by U.S. Capitol Police.
Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-IN) said that despite Speaker McCarthy’s efforts she would not vote to remove Congresswoman Omar from the committee. “I will not support this charade,” she said of the Speaker’s effort to remove Congresswoman Omar.
