US Republicans boot Ilhan Omar from foreign affairs panel over Israel comments
- Democrats slammed the removal of the black Muslim congresswoman as an act of political revenge rooted in racism
- The move marks a victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who made last-minute deals to keep his fractious caucus together on the controversial vote
US House Republicans successfully booted Democrat Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, removing from the panel a black Muslim woman who conservative lawmakers have blasted for making anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments.
The 218-211 party-line vote marks a decisive victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy who made last-minute deals to keep his fractious caucus together on a controversial vote Democrats criticised as an act of political revenge rooted in racism.
Omar, one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, has long been a target of Republicans who have accused her of using anti-Semitic tropes, for which she has since apologised, that disqualified her from serving on the panel.
“Words matter, rhetoric matters,” congressman Michael Lawler of New York, a first-year member of the committee, said on the floor. “It leads to harm. And so the congresswoman is being held accountable for her words and for her actions.”
Some other Republicans, however, saw removing her from the committee – one of McCarthy’s first moves as speaker – as unnecessary overreach.