OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
New Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has fulfilled one of his promises by booting several Democrats off their committees.
The Speaker confirmed on Monday that Democrat Representatives Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell will be removed from the Intelligence Committee and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar will be prevented from being on the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Washington Examiner reported.
“Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government security clearance. Schiff has lied to the American public…” he said.
McCARTHY confirms Swalwell, Schiff & Omar will be off committees they’d previously served: intel/foreign affairs.
“Swalwell can’t get a security clearance in the private sector. I’m not going to give him a government security clearance. Schiff has lied to the American public…”
— Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) January 10, 2023
The Speaker first made the promise in November after Republicans won a narrow majority in the House.
“Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector. Why would we ever give him a security clearance in the secrets to America? So, I will not allow him to be on Intel,” he said to Fox News in November. “You have Adam Schiff, who had lied to the American public time and again. We will not allow him to be on the Intel Committee either.”
Swalwell has been under scrutiny by Republicans after it was reported in 2020 that a suspected Chinese spy had developed relations with the California Democrat in what U.S. officials believe was an extensive political intelligence operation run by China between 2011 and 2015. A spokesperson for Swalwell said at the time he had not interacted with the operative in roughly six years, and the California Democrat has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Schiff has also been a target of the GOP over the last several years after he led hearings for former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, during which the former president was accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Schiff has continued to elicit the ire of the GOP with his position on the Jan. 6 committee, an investigation Republicans have denounced as politically motivated.
McCarthy has also long sought to remove “Squad” member Omar from her seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, accusing the Minnesota Democrat of making antisemitic comments in the past. Omar, who was first elected in 2018, has ignited a series of controversies over her anti-Israel positions and has faced other accusations of antisemitism over specific comments.
In comments in November, the California Republican said that he plans to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over several past “antisemitic” remarks.
“We watch antisemitism grow, not just on our campuses, but we watched it grow In the halls of Congress,” he told the Republican Jewish Coalition’s 2022 leadership meeting in Las Vegas.
“I promised you last year that as Speaker, she will no longer be on Foreign Affairs, and I’m keeping that promise,” he said as the audience cheered, Fox News reported.
A clip of McCarthy making his pledge was posted to Twitter. A user update accompanying the video clip noted: “The Speaker does not have the power to remove a member from a standing committee. Foreign Affairs is a standing committee. Each party has their own rules and procedures for assigning committee roles. Only a majority vote by the entire house could remove Rep. Omar.”
Last year, I promised that when I became Speaker, I would remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on her repeated anti-semitic and anti-American remarks.
I'm keeping that promise. pic.twitter.com/04blBx3neD
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) November 19, 2022
McCarthy is the top candidate for the Speakership, but he can’t afford to lose many votes due to the party’s slim majority.
Fox News added:
Since being elected to Congress in 2018, Omar has made several controversial comments widely deemed to perpetuate antisemitic tropes, including saying it was “all about the Benjamins” for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and tweeting, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,” which was seen as equating Israel and the U.S. to the Taliban.
Before joining Congress, Omar claimed in a tweet that Israel had “hypnotized the world.” After she was elected, she submitted a resolution to the House that compared boycotting Israel to boycotting the Nazi regime in 1930s Germany.
For his part, McCarthy also condemned Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) last year after she said, “Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star.” Her remarks, according to McCarthy were viewed as minimizing the Holocaust.
At the time, Democrats, who were in the majority, voted to remove Greene from her committee assignments. McCarthy said he would reinstate Greene to those assignments, and she has vowed to support him for Speaker.
In April, Omar was blasted for complaining about a group of Christians breaking into song on a commercial flight.
I think my family and I should have a prayer session next time I am on a plane. How do you think it will end? pic.twitter.com/5696Erwsl5
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 17, 2022
Some details about the flight remain unknown, such as whether it was a charter flight, when the flight actually occurred, and the travel itinerary. It was also unclear how old the video is.
“I think my family and I should have a prayer session next time I am on a plane,” Omar wrote in a Twitter post containing the video clip to her 3 million followers on the platform. “How do you think it will
