Two House Republicans are defending far-left Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN) over the prospect that she could be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The effort by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to remove Omar from Foreign Affairs comes after she has repeatedly made anti-Semitic remarks and hostile remarks about U.S. foreign policy.
Omar claimed in response that the effort to remove her from the committee was “a blow to the integrity of our democratic institutions, and a threat to our national security.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) was the first to jump to Omar’s defense, claiming a few weeks ago that it was about principle.
“I’m not going to support it,” Mace said. “I try to be consistent in my values … regardless of who’s in charge.”
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) signaled this week that she does not support removing Omar from Foreign Affairs.
“Two wrongs do not make a right,” Spartz wrote in a statement on Tuesday. “Speaker Pelosi took unprecedented actions last Congress to remove Reps. Greene and Gosar from their committees without proper due process. Speaker McCarthy is taking unprecedented actions this Congress to deny some committee assignments to the Minority without proper due process again.”
“As I spoke against it on the House floor two years ago, I will not support this charade again,” she claimed. “Speaker McCarthy needs to stop ‘bread and circuses’ in Congress and start governing for a change.”
Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) said that he was not a fan of the move, but he stopped short of saying that he would oppose it.
“I’ve never been a fan of that. Members are elected by their districts,” he said. “To throw them off just seems inappropriate.”