Republican Kevin McCarthy (CA) warned in a Fox News interview Sunday that he will remove some of the Democratic party’s most extreme members, such as Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), from their committee seats in the next Congress.
McCarthy, who is angling to become the next Speaker of the House in January, told Sunday Morning Futures that he plans to remove Omar, Schiff, and Eric Swalwell (CA) from their committee posts if elected to the leadership role.
McCarthy promises to penalize Dems
Omar, who sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, has long attracted controversy with her incendiary, allegedly anti-Semitic comments on Israel and statements seen as favorable to Islamist terrorists.
For his part, Schiff notoriously abused his position as chair of the House Intelligence Committee to push the false “Russian collusion” narrative. Eric Swalwell’s role on the same committee became controversial after his secret relationship with a Chinese spy became public information.
McCarthy told Fox that he would hold the Democratic party’s bomb throwers to account, something outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) refused to do.
“Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector. Why would we ever give him a security clearance in the secrets to America? So I will not allow him to be on Intel,” McCarthy told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo.
“You have Adam Schiff, who had lied to the American public time and again. We will not allow him to be on the Intel Committee either,” he added.
Dem melt down
Democrats fired back at McCarthy’s threat, which he initially made in January, with Somali-born Omar accusing McCarthy of racism.
“It is a continuation of a sustained campaign against Muslim and African voices, people his party have been trying to ban since Donald Trump first ran for office,” she said.
Meanwhile, Schiff complained that McCarthy, whose party will narrowly control the House in the next Congress, will be pressured to cater to the “lowest common denominator” in his caucus, referencing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) in particular.
“And if that lowest common denominator wants to remove people from committees, that’s what they’ll do,” Schiff said.
McCarthy has said he will restore Greene to her committee assignments after Democrats stripped them from her last year. Greene is backing McCarthy, a frequent target of right-wing Republicans, in his bid for Speaker, but three pro-Trump Republicans have said they won’t support McCarthy.