Array
Republicans are set to remove the Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar from the House foreign affairs committee on Thursday, a move ostensibly about her past remarks on Israel but, Democrats charge, really about both “spite” and revenge for removals of far-right extremists in the last Congress.
On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled House approved membership of committees by unanimous consent.
But the speaker, Kevin McCarthy, announced a vote to remove Omar on Thursday. Having won over members of his party who did not immediately approve the idea, McCarthy said he had “enough votes” to do so.
In 2021, Democrats removed Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona from committees.
The two extremists were removed for aggressive and threatening behaviour including Gosar’s dissemination of a video which showed him attacking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York progressive, and menacing Joe Biden. Gosar was also censured.
Under McCarthy, both have returned to committees. Greene made headlines on Wednesday when questioning a government official in an oversight hearing.
Asking about Covid relief spending, Greene brought up critical race theory, an academic discipline that examines the ways in which racism operates in US laws and society.
