Republican Reps. Nancy Mace (SC) and Victoria Spartz (IN) say they will go against their party’s grain by voting to not oust Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The congressional pair have been backing Omar ahead of a vote next week to kick her out of the influential Foreign Affairs Committee. Many Republicans have accused Omar of being anti-semitic over her stances against Israel, pointing to her 2021 statement that “Israel has hypnotized the world.” She also drew controversy with certain GOP members after she asserted that pro-Israel politicians are funded to support the Jewish state and that the backing of Israel is “all about the Benjamins baby.”
Some conservatives view this upcoming vote as a test for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who faced angst from members of his own party when he had to hold 15 rounds of votes in order to be elected into his position. He has said that removing Omar and other infamous Democrats from their committee positions is a high priority.
It may not come as a surprise for some that Mace is not on board with the plan to kick Omar off of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, especially given that she appeared for an interview with “Face the Nation” to call Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), one of the chief holdouts against McCarthy, a “fraud” and to complain of how he and others chose to negotiate new House rules.
Spartz attempted to justify her unwillingness to boot Omar from the committee in a statement put out earlier this week.
“Two wrongs do not make a right,” she began. “Speaker Pelosi took unprecedented actions last Congress to remove Reps. Greene and Gosar from their committees without due process. Speaker McCarthy is taking unprecedented actions this Congress to deny some committee assignments to the minority without proper due process again.”
She emphasized her refusal to support what she characterizes as a “charade.”
Numerous users on social media have attacked Mace and Spartz for their decision to back Omar:
WOW: Two House Republicans – Victoria Spartz and Nancy Mace – have suggested they will not vote in favor of removing Ilhan Omar from her committee assignments.
Let that sink in: They are siding with Ilhan Omar.
— Todd Peterson (@Todd_Peterson_1) January 27, 2023
Nancy Mace is a fucking disgrace!!! I hope she never gets re-elected!! She is a Rino!! Do better South Carolina
— Michael (@Michael54185421) January 27, 2023
Supposedly Republicans Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Victoria Spartz of Indiana need to be voted out of office if they think Omar deserves to be on the Foreign Affairs Committee and vote for her.
— Jack Dedrick (@JackDedrick2) January 25, 2023
