A House Republican is calling for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to be stripped of her committee assignments over remarks he says disparaged Charlie Kirk following his assassination last week.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) plans to introduce a resolution Monday seeking Omar’s removal from the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where she serves as the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
Omar drew sharp criticism from the right over an interview with the progressive outlet Zeteo, where she criticized Kirk’s past commentary and Republicans’ response to his assassination. She later accused Republicans of taking her remarks out of context and stressed that she found Kirk’s death “mortifying.”
She told the outlet days after Kirk’s assassination that he previously “downplayed slavery and what black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth shouldn’t exist.”
“There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate,” the “Squad” member said. “There is nothing more effed up, you know, like, than to completely pretend that, you know, his words and actions have not been recorded and in existence for the last decade or so.”
Carter told Fox News Digital, however, “Disparaging Charlie Kirk’s legacy, a God-fearing, honorable man, for boldly sharing his conservative beliefs is disgusting. The radical left has normalized meeting free speech with violence, and it must stop.”
“No one who justifies the assassination of someone with different political views than them deserves to sit on a committee, and Ilhan Omar openly used language that incites violence toward her political opponents. Committees are for serious lawmakers, not hate-spewing politicians,” he said.
Omar has faced repeated calls for removal from congressional committees since her arrival in Washington in 2019. Critics point to past remarks widely condemned as antisemitic, including her suggestion that U.S. support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” which she later apologized for. She also drew scrutiny for downplaying the 9/11 terrorist attacks as “some people did something” during a speech that year, sparking bipartisan criticism.
Republicans previously pushed to oust Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, citing those controversies as evidence she should not hold seats on panels that shape U.S. foreign policy. Democrats, however, defended her assignments, framing GOP efforts as politically motivated retaliation.
