Jeffries names Omar to Foreign Affairs Committee, setting up floor clash
by Virginia Aabram, Congressional Reporter
January 27, 2023 05:54 PM
Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) named Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday, despite House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) vow to block her from sitting on the panel over past antisemitic comments.
The clash will trigger a floor vote in which McCarthy will need the support of the majority of the House to keep Omar off the committee. He unilaterally blocked two Democrats from sitting on the House Intelligence Committee since it's a select panel and is populated at the speaker's discretion.
GOP leadership is expected to bring the vote up next week, though at least two Republicans are expected to vote "no." Republicans can only afford to lose a few votes on any bill due to their slim majority that's compounded by the absence of Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), who is out with an injury for the next several weeks.
Reps. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) have said they won't vote to keep Omar off the panel, and several other Republicans say they're undecided on how they will vote. Spartz views McCarthy's vow as retaliation for Democrats stripping Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) of their committee assignments in 2021.
At a press conference Wednesday with Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA), whom McCarthy blocked from the Intelligence Committee, Omar said the move was "about revenge."
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house/jeffries-names-omar-foreign-affairs-commitee
