House Votes to Boot Rep. Omar From Foreign Affairs Committee
WASHINGTON — The House voted largely along party lines to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The resolution voted on Thursday cited a half dozen comments Omar had made between 2019 and 2021 that were deemed to be antisemitic.
In the end, the vote was 218-211, with Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, voting present.
Prior to the vote, Omar took the floor of the House to defend herself.
“This debate today, it’s about who gets to be an American,” she said. “I am Muslim. I am an immigrant. Is anyone surprised that I am being targeted? Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy?” she said.
“Frankly, it is expected,” Omar added.
The vote came two years after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., vowed to retaliate against Democrats for removing Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., from their committees over controversial comments and videos they shared via Twitter.
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