Republicans vote to oust Rep. Ilhan Omar from House committee

House Republicans on Thursday voted to remove progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from her long-held seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, delivering on one of the earliest promises made by now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) after Republicans gained control of the chamber in November.

The final vote of 218 to 211 was entirely along party lines, with just one Republican, Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio, voting present. Speaking before the vote on Wednesday, Omar laid bare what she saw as the stakes of her ouster and the broader questions it raises. "Who gets to be an American? What opinions do you have to have to be counted as American?" she asked her colleagues. "That is what this debate is about. There is this idea that you are suspect if you are an immigrant. Or if you are from a certain part of the world, of a certain skin tone, or a Muslim."

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Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.