MINNEAPOLIS — Rep. Ilhan Omar met with supporters at a northeast Minneapolis coffee shop Friday and vowed to continue advocating for her foreign policy goals in Congress, one day after the Republican-led House of Representatives voted along party lines to remove her from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Addressing constituents in a brief speech, Omar said she will use her new position on the House Budget Committee — where Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he'll appoint her — to "talk about what values we want to advance through our budget in regards to foreign policy."
Back in power in the House for the first time in four years, Republicans approved Omar's ousting from the Foreign Affairs Committee by a margin of seven votes.
"People are pretty upset in our district. I've been an incredibly important voice on foreign policy, and they know Republicans have targeted me because of that," Omar said in an interview with KARE 11 before the event. "This is also about silencing a voice of dissent, a voice of critique, a voice of peace on that committee."
Republican leaders say Omar's past comments about Israel warrant her removal from the committee, including a 2019 tweet in which she said Israel policy was money-driven and "all about the Benjamins." At the time, Omar apologized for making that statement, after many on both sides of the aisle condemned her for playing to longstanding stereotypes about Jewish power.
"No one who peddles in anti-Semitic activity behavior or language should have any right to serve on the House Foreign Affairs Committee," Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York, said on the House floor Thursday.
In a statement, Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota said "there is no debate that Ilhan Omar, the face of antisemitism in the Democrat Party, has no place representing American interests on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Ms. Omar is an embarrassment to Minnesota and our country."
Omar offered a sharp response on Friday.
"The only embarassment is him. He has been accused of anti-Semitism. He said Jews were buying to control Congress," Omar said in an interview, referring to a 2019 letter signed by Emmer that was also roundly criticized as invoking anti-Semitic sterotypes. "And he doesn't have the care or compassion to apologize to work with the community, to learn from the mistake, to understand how hurtful those tropes are."
Omar said she believes the decision to remove her from the House Foreign Affairs Committee was a "personal" attack by Speaker Kevin McCarthy and retribution for Democrats taking committee assignments away from Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar. Those moves happened in response to social media posts suggesting or depicting violence against Democrats.
Republican leaders denied that retribution played any part in the vote to remove Omar from foreign affairs.
"That's the clear part, how it's not tit-for-tat. We're not removing her from other committees. We just do not believe, when it comes to foreign affairs, especially the responsibility of that position around the world, with the comments that you make," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. "She shouldn't serve there."
On Friday, Omar said she'll now focus on her new job on the budget committee, where she served during her first term in Congress.
"It is an opportunity to make sure our budget reflects our values," Omar said. "I'll be defending the good work and investments that we have made, and I will try to make sure that we fight against the extremist agenda of trying to cut Social Security, Medicaid, and all the programs that are really important to the constituents of the Fifth (Congressional District)."
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