West News Wire: Republicans want to remove Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar from the House foreign affairs committee on Thursday. Democrats claim that this move is truly motivated by “spite” and retaliation for the removal of far-right extremists during the last Congress.
The Republican-controlled House unanimously approved committee membership on Wednesday.
But on Thursday, Kevin McCarthy, the speaker, announced a vote to impeach Omar. McCarthy asserted that he had “enough votes” to pass the proposal after persuading party members who were initially opposed to it.
Democrats withdrew Paul Gosar of Arizona and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia from committees in 2021.
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. It is rarely taught below college level but has become a Republican fixation.
Greene defined it as “a racist curriculum used to teach children that somehow their white skin is not equal to black skin and other things in education”.
She also asked about federal funding for “drag queen story time” where “men dress up as women and read books to children”.
As reported by Axios, the official she was questioning, “Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, did not appear to know what Greene was talking about.”
Omar was born in Somalia and in 2018 became one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress. The target of threats and Islamophobic comments from Republicans, she once called McCarthy a “liar and a coward” after he refused to condemn remarks by Lauren Boebert, a Colorado extremist Omar said was a “buffoon” and a “bigot”.
Omar was forced to apologised for comments about Israel deemed by Democrats and Republicans to be antisemitic.
The move is seen as revenge against the Minnesota Democrat for removals of far-right extremists during the last Congress.
