McCarthy vows to block Omar from being on Foreign Affairs committee if GOP retakes House in 2022

McCarthy is promising to block Rep. Ilhan Omar from serving on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Ilhan Omar

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is pledging to prevent Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from serving on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs if the GOP wins the majority in next year's midterms and said he will do likewise with "anybody that has an anti-semitic, anti-American view."

The California lawmaker spoke after Omar’s comments last week in which she seen to equivocate the United States and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas.

Omar received backlash from both parties after having tweeted,“We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity. We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban." I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice,” in addition to a video of her questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a hearing. 

Omar later clarified her comments, at the request of about a dozen fellow House Democrats, saying "To be clear: the conversation was about accountability for specific incidents regarding those [International Criminal Court] cases, not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the U.S. and Israel."

Still, several GOP leaders have asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to remove Omar from the committee, based on her history of having made comments perceived by many as anti-semitic.

McCarthy said Tuesday night on Fox New: "I will promise you this: If we are fortunate enough to have the majority, Omar would not be serving on Foreign Affairs, or anybody that has an anti-semitic, anti-American view.”

According to the New York Post, it is unclear whether McCarthy will more immediately move forward with pushing for a vote to remove Omar from the committee because some members have subtly raised concerns that it could lead to a precedent of parties regularly attempting to oust lawmakers from such panels.