U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday. The resolution to remove Omar passed 218 to 211. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that Omar’s removal is in relation to past behavior the lawmaker has demonstrated, such as a tweet that was condemned by Democratic leadership as antisemitic and that compared the U.S. military with Hamas and the Taliban. McCarthy shared to Twitter: “She said Americans only like Israel because it’s all about the Benjamins. What does that say to other people around the world? It’s not right. We were right in our action and she can serve on other committees. It puts America in jeopardy and I’m not going to do that on my watch. And it’s fair in the process, unlike them.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had repeatedly vowed to remove Omar and two other Democrats, California Reps. Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff, once Republicans regained power. McCarthy rejected Schiff and Swalwell’s bids to return to the House Intelligence Committee.
Earlier Thursday, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said the vote was “all about political revenge” and called the resolution written to remove Omar “phony, fake and fraudulent.” Jeffries noted that Democrats immediately condemned Omar for her problematic statements after they were made and acted to condemn antisemitism globally, which Omar voted in favor of. Jeffries said: “This type of poisonous toxic double standard is going to complicate the relationship moving forward between House Democrats and House Republicans.”
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