House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reiterated Tuesday that he will block Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell of California from serving on the House committee that oversees national intelligence, and vowed to still remove Rep. Ilhan Omar (D- Minnesota) from the Foreign Affairs Committee, saying the decision was not based on political payback but because “integrity matters, and they have failed in that place.”
In a joint statement the three Democrats being targeted for removal from committees said “it’s disappointing but not surprising that Kevin McCarthy has capitulated to the right wing of his caucus, undermining the integrity of the Congress, and harming our national security in the process.”
They called their removal part of a bargain McCarthy made with GOP hardliners to become speaker “that required political vengeance against the three of us.”
Omar, speaking to WCCO’s Chad Hartman Show Wednesday, says she would love the opportunity to talk with McCarthy about why he wants her removed from the committee.
“Clearly, there are other reasons, that they believe as an immigrant, as a refugee, as a Muslim woman, that I do not deserve, or I'm not American enough to serve on the Foreign Affairs Committee,” Rep. Omar told WCCO.
Omar has served on the Foreign Affairs Committee the last two terms, and she says she brings an important and unique perspective to the appointment. She would also be the ranking member for the Africa subcommittee.
“This action, and what he has done to Representatives (Schiff and Swalwell), actually contradicts the statement he is making,” says Omar. “We are members who have served on these committees, we’ve served diligently, we’ve served respectfully, and we’ve served in many ways bipartisan. These are committees often times where members on both sides of the aisle work closely together on behalf of our nation when it comes to foreign policy or national security. And I don’t understand how he can say that’s what he’s interested in doing, then do this very partisan work of removing the two members of the Intel Committee and try and block me from serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee.”
The House could vote as early as next week on whether or not to remove Omar from the committee. She says she is optimistic that she has the support of enough Democratic leaders to stay on the panel.
McCarthy has long threatened to hold a vote to deny Omar a seat on the panel if the GOP won the House majority because of past comments she has made about Israel, which she says she has acknowledged were a mistake numerous times. Those comments still upset Republicans and Democrats alike. But GOP leaders also see the move as retaliation against Democrats who voted to strip two Republicans of their committee assignments over incendiary social media posts when they controlled the House.
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Republicans now enjoy a narrow majority, and McCarthy can only afford four GOP defections in order to successfully garner the votes needed to keep Omar from holding committee seats.
But already, two Republican lawmakers, Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Victoria Spartz of Indiana, have indicated they will oppose McCarthy's effort against Omar.
"Two wrongs don't make a right," Spartz said in a statement. "Speaker Pelosi took unprecedented actions last Congress to remove Reps. [Marjorie Taylor] Greene and [Paul] 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."
In the previous Congress, Democrats did remove Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia (R) and Paul Gosar (R) of Arizona from their committee assignments for incendiary commentary that they said incited potential violence against colleagues.
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in a letter sent to McCarthy over the weekend, asked that Schiff and Swalwell be reappointed to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, a prestigious panel with access to sensitive, classified information. There is no “precedent or justification” for rejecting them, Jeffries said.
Unlike most committees, appointments to the Intelligence panel are the prerogative of the speaker, with input from the minority leader.
McCarthy insisted that “this is not similar to what the Democrats did. Those members will have other committees, but the Intel Committee is different. The Intel committee’s responsibility is the national security to America.”
“Hakeem Jeffries has 200 other people who can serve on that committee,” he added.
He sent his formal response to Jeffries in a letter he posted Tuesday night on Twitter, saying, "I have rejected the appointments of Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell for the House Intelligence Committee."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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