Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-OH) has an idea of why House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his caucus want her removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee: to appeal to Islamophobic and racist members of Congress.
The Democratic congresswoman appeared alongside Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on Sunday’s State of the Union, where anchor Dana Bash pressed them on Republicans’ reasoning over their committee placements. On Tuesday, McCarthy used special House rules to reject Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ request to reappoint Schiff and Swalwell to the House Intelligence Committee.
He has since pushed for a full House vote to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee—necessary under House rules—though three Republicans have since said they would vote against her ouster. The moves come after Republicans promised to enact revenge after Democrats removed Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) over racist comments and dangerous conspiracy theories the two had made.