Tag: Speaker Kevin McCarthy

The Most Conservative County in Liberal States

By Elias Sorich/Stacker

American politics have polarized faster than in other democracies, according to a report published in the National Bureau of Economic Research. This trend is reflected in the ideological movement of the U.S. Congress, with both Democrats and Republicans moving further and further away from an ideological center, though Republicans have done so on average more intensely. Indeed, the recent struggle of Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to gain the speakership role highlighted the degree to which hard-right conservative politicians have come to hold disproportionately large sway over the Republican majority.

Many of those detractors, members of the Freedom Caucus, come from reliably Republican and ideologically conservative states, though a number come from more moderate or swing states. To develop an understanding of the complexity of the American political landscape, Stacker compiled voter turnout data from The New York Times and statewide political ideology data from Gallup to rank states by their share of self-identifying liberals. Ties were broken by the corresponding percentage of conservatives, as able. Voter data was then used to identify counties that voted against this statewide average ideology.

In looking at these counties, data from government agencies such as the Census Bureau and research institutes—such as the Pew Research Center and the Public Religion Research Institute—were used to highlight and analyze demographic factors that might make the political ideology of the county apparent. Percentages of people identifying as "white Christian" in each county were sourced from the 2020 Census of American Religion. Detailed voter turnout data was unavailable for Virginia, Alaska, Louisiana, and Alabama.

In terms of understanding how these demographic factors affect the political lean of an American voter, a few qualities stand out as the biggest and most reliable predictors of party affiliation and ideological tendency. Namely, religion, race, education, and where a voter falls on the urban-rural divide. To distill these complexities into a couple of takeaways: Racially diverse communities lean Democrat by wide margins, and white Christians account for a large percentage of Republican votes. The highly educated tend to lean Democrat quite broadly, and in presidential elections, rural areas see a 15-22 point increase in Republican votes regardless of other variables such as race and education. Gender, age, and sexuality all play into the equation as well, with older voters leaning conservative, women leaning Democrat, men leaning slightly Republican, and LGBTQ+ voters overwhelmingly liberal.Florence County, Wisconsin

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#20. Wisconsin: 24% liberal, 35% conservative

- Most conservative county: Florence County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 2,133 (72.6%)
--- Total votes cast: 2,940

Located on the northernmost, rural border between Wisconsin and Michigan, Florence County has a population of 4,558, of which 94.6% is white, most of whom identify as white and Christian. The county has a population density of 9.3 people per square mile, a median age 15.9 years higher than the national average of 38.6, and 20.6% of its population has attained a bachelor's degree or higher, 14.4% lower than the national average of 35%.Fulton County, Pennsylvania

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#19. Pennsylvania: 24% liberal, 34% conservative

- Most conservative county: Fulton County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 6,824 (85.4%)
--- Total votes cast: 7,990

Fulton County shares a border with Maryland to the south and is sparsely populated, with McConnellsburg (population 1,150) its largest town. In terms of explaining conservative dominance in the county, three demographics stand out: its population of 14,556 is 94.3% white, only 15.7% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher, and 80% of the population identifies as white Christian.Sussex County, Delaware

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#18. Delaware: 24% liberal, 29% conservative

- Most conservative county: Sussex County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 71,230 (55.1%)
--- Total votes cast: 129,352

Distinguishing Sussex County most significantly from its more liberal neighboring counties is the high median age of its residents at 51.8 years, with 29.8% of Sussex County residents being 65 and older, and 75.4% of its 237,378 residents identifying as white. Immediately north is Kent County, Delaware, which has a median age of 38.8, and a lower percentage of white residents at 58.8% of 181,851. While not as markedly white as other counties, Sussex's racial demographics, combined with the fact that older voters generally vote more conservatively, likely contribute to its Republican lean.Morrison County, Minnesota

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#17. Minnesota: 25% liberal, 32% conservative

- Most conservative county: Morrison County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 14,821 (75.8%)
--- Total votes cast: 19,558

One of the top counties in Minnesota for dairy farming, Morrison County has a population of 34,010 with a density of 29.5 people per square mile, making it a decidedly rural region. In terms of demographics, the county is 94.2% white, a recurring factor in sharply conservative counties.Kent County, Rhode Island

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#16. Rhode Island: 25% liberal, 29% conservative

- Most conservative county: Kent County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 42,001 (45.1%)
--- Total votes cast: 93,093

Demographically, Kent County is fairly average, containing parts of the greater Providence metropolitan area as well as rural swaths, and with income, employment, education, and median age levels on par with the national average. The county's tossup nature is reflected in its voting history, going for President Trump by a 0.7% margin in 2016 and President Biden by a 7.6% margin in 2020. Likely tipping the county's balance towards conservatism, however, are the 38% of its population identifying as white Catholics, a group that leans Republican by a 14% margin, as well as a largely white overall population representing 86% of the total 170,363 residents.Kiowa County, Colorado

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#15. Colorado: 26% liberal, 33% conservative

- Most conservative county: Kiowa County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 795 (88.0%)
--- Total votes cast: 903

The location of a collapsed agriculture industry, Kiowa County is 1,767.8 square miles, but contains only 1,446 residents, making it one of the top 50 least densely populated counties in the nation. With a population that is 75% white and Christian, and overall 89% white, Kiowa's steep conservatism likely comes down to its racial and geographic demographic qualities.Wayne County, Illinois

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#14. Illinois: 27% liberal, 31% conservative

- Most conservative county: Wayne County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 7,176 (84.4%)
--- Total votes cast: 8,499

Wayne County is host to 368,017 acres of farmland, constituting 80% of the county's 713.8 square miles. Its largest city is Fairfield with a population of 4,883. Eighty-two percent of the county's population of 16,179 are white Christians, and 95.5% of the overall population is white, with the percentage of the population attaining a bachelor's degree or higher at 15.2%, about 20 points lower than the national average.Litchfield County, Connecticut

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#13. Connecticut: 27% liberal, 30% conservative

- Most conservative county: Litchfield County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 55,601 (51.7%)
--- Total votes cast: 107,544

Connecticut's largest county by square mileage, Litchfield County has a population of 185,186 and contains a consistent distribution of smaller towns interspersed with natural areas and preserves. The county is wealthier than the national average, with a median household income of $84,978 against the nation's $69,717, and more highly educated with 38% of the population attaining a bachelor's degree or higher and 15% attaining a postgraduate or professional degree. Factors contributing to the county's tendency to go for Republican candidates by small but consistent margins are a high median age of 47.6, a population of 85.7% white, and 5% white Christian.Ocean County, New Jersey

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#12. New Jersey: 27% liberal, 29% conservative

- Most conservative county: Ocean County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 217,740 (63.8%)
--- Total votes cast: 341,516

Part of the broader New York metropolitan area, Ocean County is home to 637,229 people and has grown consistently over the decades, gaining 10.5% in population from 2010-2020. The city of Lakewood is a source of much of that increase, growing by 45.6% to a total population of 135,158 from 2010-2020, thanks in large part to an influx of Orthodox Jewish people, a group that leans Republican by 75%. Otherwise, the county's population is 83.8% white, with 10.4% of the population being Hispanic or Latino, and overall has fairly average income, education, and median age demographics.Lake County, Oregon

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#11. Oregon: 28% liberal, 32% conservative

- Most conservative county: Lake County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 3,470 (79.5%)
--- Total votes cast: 4,363

Located in southern Oregon in a region known as the "Oregon Outback" for its desert habitat, Lake County is 8,138.6 square miles in size and contains a population of 8,160, putting its population density at about 1 person per square mile. A quarter of the population is 65 years and older, and 82% are white with an overall median household income of $50,685, about $20,000 lower than national and state levels.Garrett County, Maryland

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#10. Maryland: 28% liberal, 29% conservative

- Most conservative county: Garrett County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 12,002 (76.9%)
--- Total votes cast: 15,611

Maryland's westernmost county, Garrett County is sandwiched between West Virginia and Pennsylvania and contains 118.75 square miles of parks, lakes, and forestland—about 18% of the county's overall size. The county is overwhelmingly white at 96.5% of 28,806 people and is 71% white Christian, with 23% of residents religiously unaffiliated. The county has a slightly above average median age of 47.3, with 22.4% of the population 65 and older, a median income of $58,011 against the state's $90,203, and 24.7% of residents having attained a bachelor's degree or higher.Honolulu County, Hawaii

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#9. Hawaii: 28% liberal, 22% conservative

- Most conservative county: Honolulu County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 136,259 (35.7%)
--- Total votes cast: 382,114

Containing 70% of Hawaii's residents and encompassing the entirety of the island of Honolulu, Honolulu County has a population of 1,016,508, 43% of whom are Asian or Asian American, 10% of whom are Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and 18.5% of whom are white. In terms of political affiliation, English-speaking Asian Americans lean Democrat by a margin of 55 points, a gap that has continually widened over the last two decades. Religiously, the county is quite diverse—4% of its population is Buddhists, the third-largest concentration of Buddhists in the nation, a group that leans Democrat.Lassen County, California

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#8. California: 29% liberal, 29% conservative

- Most conservative county: Lassen County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 8,970 (74.8%)
--- Total votes cast: 11,985

Located in California's arid northeast, Lassen County has a low employment rate of 30%, though the population's median age is 37.3. Notably, 46% of people employed in the county are local, state, and federal government employees—31.4% higher than the national average—with state and federal prisons located in the region accounting for a significant amount of that number. Only 11.8% of the population has attained a bachelor's degree or higher. The county is relatively diverse when compared to other counties on this list with 64.3% of the population identifying as white, 23% as Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% as Black or African American, and 3.3% as American Indian/Alaskan Native.Belknap County, New Hampshire

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#7. New Hampshire: 30% liberal, 28% conservative

- Most conservative county: Belknap County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 20,899 (54.3%)
--- Total votes cast: 38,453

Host to the majority of Lake Winnipesaukee, 15% of Belknap County's area is water, and its largest city is Laconia, which has a population of 16,871 to the county's 63,705 residents. Significant to the politics of the region is a popular ski resort called Gunstock, which in 2023 led to an upheaval in the county's state delegation after a Republican-led group attempted to usher in corporate ownership of the resort. In terms of its demographics, Belknap contains the highest concentration of white Christians in New Hampshire at 63%, with 92.8% of the overall population identifying as white.Wyoming County, New York

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#6. New York: 30% liberal, 27% conservative

- Most conservative county: Wyoming County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 13,348 (74.0%)
--- Total votes cast: 18,050

Located in far western New York, Wyoming County is the state's largest dairy farming county, containing an estimated 49,925 cows, per the USDA's 2017 Census of Agriculture. The county also contains the third-highest concentration of white Christians in the state at 67% of the population and of that 22% are white evangelical Protestants, a group that leans Republican by a margin of 59 points.Washington D.C.

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#5. Washington D.C.: 30% liberal, 24% conservative

- Most conservative county: Washington
--- Republican votes in 2020: 18,586 (5.4%)
--- Total votes cast: 344,356

As a federal district and not a state, Washington D.C. does not contain any official counties, but its local government performs the services of a city and county. A region that votes overwhelmingly Democratic and has since at least 1964, D.C.'s conservatism is difficult to identify. Notably, 63% of D.C. residents have attained a bachelor's degree or higher and 35.9% have attained a graduate or professional degree. The region is also very diverse with a population of 689,545 breaking down to 41.4% Black or African American, 39.6% white, 11.3% Hispanic or Latino, and 4.8% Asian.Lincoln County, Washington

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#4. Washington: 31% liberal, 28% conservative

- Most conservative county: Lincoln County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 5,150 (73.2%)
--- Total votes cast: 7,033

Located in Washington's eastern region, Lincoln County is the state's second-largest wheat producer, with over 80% of the county's 2,310 square miles devoted to farmland. The county is sparsely populated, with a population density of 4.7 people per square mile, and its residents have a somewhat high median age of 47.1, with 25.1% of the population 65 or older. Lincoln's population is 89.2% white, and the county has the highest concentration of white Christians in the state at 67%.Essex County, Vermont

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#3. Vermont: 32% liberal, 28% conservative

- Most conservative county: Essex County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 1,773 (53.9%)
--- Total votes cast: 3,288

The least populous county of Vermont and in all of New England, Essex County has 5,920 residents, of whom 94% are white, and 67% of whom identify as white Christians, the third-highest concentration in the state. Essex also has the lowest median household income in the state at $48,194 against Vermont's overall $72,431.Piscataquis County, Maine

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#2. Maine: 33% liberal, 35% conservative

- Most conservative county: Piscataquis County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 6,143 (62.0%)
--- Total votes cast: 9,908

With water representing 9.5% of its area, and a significant portion of its land devoted to state parks, preserves, and wilderness areas, Piscataquis County is a largely rural, natural region. The second-largest county in Maine at 3,961 square miles, Piscataquis' population of 16,800 has a median age of 51.3, with 26.1% of the population aged 65 and older, and 20.3% of the population having attained a bachelor's degree or higher.Bristol County, Massachusetts

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#1. Massachusetts: 35% liberal, 21% conservative

- Most conservative county: Bristol County
--- Republican votes in 2020: 119,872 (42.9%)
--- Total votes cast: 279,279

Bordering Providence, Rhode Island, and containing a high proportion of urban area, Bristol County's population is 579,200, and the county has a population density of 1,047.2 people per square mile. The county's median household income of $73,102 is above the national average but lags behind Massachusetts' median income of $89,645. Just 9.5% of the population are Hispanic or Latino, whereas 78.7% identify as white.​​

Data reporting by Sam Larson. Story editing by Brian Budzynski. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire.

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Comment below or email editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

CPI Falls to 4.0% -- The Consumer Price Index fell to an annual rate of 4.0% in May, down from 4.9% in April, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. Prices were up 0.1% on a monthly basis, with highest increase for shelter, followed by used cars and trucks, according to the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Food prices were up 6.7% on an annual level, offset in part by an 11.7% drop in energy prices. The CPI for all items less food and energy was +5.3% in May.

Most economists believe the Federal Reserve, which holds its latest regular meeting Tuesday through Thursday will forego an interest rate increase for the first time in about two years. 

•••

Truce for McCarthy and Freedom Caucus – Last week’s disagreement between Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and “conservatives” dominated by the Freedom Caucus, which clogged up legislation in the House is over for now, Roll Call reports. “Members of the rebel bloc made it clear” Monday “it may not be the end of trouble” for McCarthy. 

There were even whispers last week of the possibility of a motion to vacate, in which one representative can call for a vote that would recall the speaker. The brouhaha stemmed from Freedom Caucus members who objected to what they saw as a debt ceiling deal favoring President Biden. Last week, the hard-right bloc blocked votes on bills otherwise favorable to them, including one that would prevent regulation or banning of gas stoves. 

Trouble ahead: The MAGA/Freedom Caucus bloc reopened the House floor to action this week in exchange for renegotiating the “power-sharing” agreement they worked out with McCarthy to give him the speaker’s gavel, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told reporters Monday. Short of unspecified “progress” Gaetz said, “perhaps we’ll be back here next week.”

Why the quote marks?: We put “conservatives” in quotes, above, because we presume most, if not all, 222 House Republicans consider themselves leaning right. The Freedom Caucus currently counts 46 members, a bit more than one-tenth the size of the House membership.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Biden’s Strategy Wins

By Ken Zino

Presidents Biden began his State of the Union speech to set this up: “The story of America is a story of progress and resilience … We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it. That is what we are doing again.” The president too was stronger -- much stronger. He used the Republican politics of grievance and destructive posturing against them to promote another two years of progressive headway.

“We’re building an economy where no one is left behind. Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years. This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives,” Biden said. 

Then Biden out-foxed, the Republicans starting with a jab at Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). “I look forward to working with you,” he said, adding the caveat; “I don’t want to ruin your reputation.” Biden then loaded his speech with facts in the spirit of New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who in similar situations called on his political opponents to look at the record. 

Enter a tsunami of Administration triumphs: 

  • “Two years ago, our economy was reeling.”
  • “As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs, more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years.”
  • “Two years ago, COVID had shut down our businesses, closed our schools, and robbed us of so much. Today, COVID no longer controls our lives.”
  • “And two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.”
  • "As we gather here tonight, we are writing the next chapter in the great American story, a story of progress and resilience. I define our country in one word: Possibilities.”

Republicans face crossroads. Will sanity prevail and dump Trump and his losing, racist, sexist, fascist, insurrectionist ways? A party overhaul is needed. Biden Democrats did it: Look at the party’s stunning reversal of a global trade policy that had made the rich richer and harmed the middle class. Now the rest of the Democratic Party is firmly backing Biden’s policy of building and buying American. 

Biden’s jab at Republicans who wish to end Social Security was brilliant. When a witness heckler said that it wasn’t so, Biden offered to produce the document. Heckling ensued claiming it was only one individual’s position (Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who also was chair of the party’s midterm campaigns last year). 

Biden used an assumptive close that shut down the obstructionist noise. “So Medicare and Social Security are off the books in the next budget?” Biden stared them down, into silence. 

During his first State of the Union, Biden’s Unity Agenda sought areas where both parties could work together and make progress for We The People. These are now -- again -- populist policies that only heartless Republicans could oppose: a “moonshot” at finding a cure for cancer; delivering on obligations to veterans; tackling the mental health crisis; beating the opioid and overdose epidemic; immigration reform. 

I realize that many Republicans have a George Santos-like relationship to facts. However, Biden signed more than 300 bipartisan bills. And the positive effects of, say, his infrastructure bill are just beginning, including projects in Republican districts where Biden promised to attend the groundbreaking ceremonies. 

Biden Tuesday announced a new wave of plans toward more progress, with better results for families. Along the way, Biden had Republicans on the ropes with jab after jab and devastating left hooks. 

The president said he was proud to work with Democrats and Republicans to enact major legislation that delivers on all aspects of this agenda. This starts with the deficit. As I looked at the Republicans, I saw later-day Benedict Arnolds who spent too much on tax cuts for the rich. Now they want the middle class, the poor and retired to pay the price for their actions. 

Biden’s predecessor signed nearly $2 trillion worth of unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations. This Republican deficit went up every year under Trump’s mis-administration. Biden has cut the deficit by $1.7 trillion. Democratic reforms to take on Big Pharma, lower prescription costs, and make the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share will reduce the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars more.

Here’s the key to the winning strategy: Biden knows that the work to build an economy from the bottom up and middle out is far from done. “Let’s finish the job” is the rallying cry. Biden teased the budget he will send to Congress on March 9th, building on the historic economic progress of the past two years by continuing to invest in America and its people, continuing to lower costs for families; for child care, housing, college costs and health care, while protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare, and reducing the deficit through additional reforms.

Why abandon a winning strategy? 

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Biden Negotiates Budget in SOTU

By Todd Lassa

In the buildup to his sucker-punch of MAGA Republicans, President Biden in his State of the Union address repeated recent Democratic talking points of how he has cut the federal deficit after Congress raised the debt ceiling for his “predecessor.” Even without mentioning Donald J. Trump by name, Biden riled up those Republicans in the House of Representatives who remain resolute in support of said predecessor by describing the last administration’s budget battle in a manner few would have expected from the longtime politician.

“For the last two years my administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion. The largest deficit reduction in American history.” Biden’s fellow Democrats began applauding. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), sitting behind the president and next to Vice President Kamala Harris, appeared to be looking in the direction of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) while he silently mouthed appeals to shut up. 

“In the previous administration, the deficit went up four years in a row,” Biden continued. “Because those deficits, no president added more to the national debt in any four years of my predecessor. Nearly 25% of the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone … the last one.”

GOP grumbling began to build. 

“That’s a fact,” Biden dug in. “Check it out.” 

Boos from the MAGA wing rose to a crescendo when Biden said “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset … some Republicans. … I’m politely not naming them, but it’s being proposed.”

From the Republican side of the gallery, MTG rose to call out “Liar!” She took Biden’s bait.

“So, folks,” Biden responded, “as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the table.” 

Biden Tuesday evening gave his most loyal supporters reason to feel good about his deft balance of pugilistic politics and bipartisan comity. But it’s hard to tell whether the most progressive Democrats were sufficiently impressed with the considerable dose of anti-supply-side reverse-Reaganomics that Biden served up.

“Let’s sit down and discuss our mutual plans together” for raising the debt ceiling, Biden continued. He wants to cut the deficit by another $2 trillion. This will entail Biden’s decidedly un-bipartisan plan to impose a minimum 15% tax on billion-dollar businesses and raise taxes for rich individuals (while funding better IRS enforcement) but with no tax increases for anyone making less than $400,000 per year.

Continuing with his theme of a more blue-collar, less limousine-liberal Democratic Party, Biden outlined his new Junk Fee Protection Act, which would reduce exorbitant bank overdrafts and credit card late fees, and force airlines to return payments for cancelled flights.

Biden called for restoration of the full Child Tax Credit and proposed a public education package that would make pre-school available to all 3- and 4-year-olds, increase public school teacher pay, increase Pell Grants and expand two-year colleges. 

With Row Vaughn and Rodney Wells, parents of Tyre Nichols, in the audience as guests of first lady Jill Biden, the president voiced support for police, but said, “when police violate the public trust, they must be held accountable.” He called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Calling out Brandon Tsay, another guest of the first lady, who in January disarmed a shooter at a Monterey Park, California, Lunar New Year celebration, Biden demanded a ban on assault weapons. 

He called on Congress to “restore the right” taken away by the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.

“If Congress passes a national ban [on abortion], I will veto it,” Biden said.

And Biden expressed continued support of Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. Some hard-conservative Republicans want to limit U.S. spending on military aide, while a few MAGA Republicans are more blatantly sympathetic to Vladimir Putin.

“Putin’s invasion has been a test for the ages,” Biden said. “Would we stand for the defense of democracy?”

For at least the two-plus hours of his State of the Union address Tuesday night, it was hard to objectively avoid the conclusion that President Biden was owning the MAGAs. But as Capitol Hill returns to the cold, hard reality of a politically split 118thCongress, much of Biden’s agenda still faces likely opposition in the House, as well as four more months of arguments against raising the debt ceiling.

-30-

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Omar Removed from House Foreign Affairs

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee along party lines, 218-211, Thursday afternoon for comments she made mostly on social media sites three years ago, Roll Call reports. As a freshman in 2019, Omar appeared in social media and in public repeating an antisemitic trope equating influence in U.S. politics with money from “wealthy Jewish Americans.”

Democrats, in control of the House moved on after Omar apologized, but Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in anticipation of becoming House speaker this year, promised in 2021 to remove her if his party reclaimed the majority this year, calling her past remarks “appalling, wrong and disqualifying.”

Before the vote, at his weekly press conference Thursday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-CA) said the Democratic caucus condemned Omar’s comments three years ago and added that the vote would be about “political revenge.” 

That’s “revenge” for the House’s Democratic majority in the 117th Congress having removed Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) from their committee assignments two years ago over apparent endorsement of violence against Democratic lawmakers. 

Prior to her removal, Omar said; “My leadership and voice will not be diminished if I’m not on this committee for one term. My voice will get louder and stronger, and my leadership will be celebrated around the world as it has been.”

Omar Removed from House Foreign Affairs

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee along party lines, 218-211, Thursday afternoon for comments she made mostly on social media sites three years ago, Roll Call reports. As a freshman in 2019, Omar appeared in social media and in public repeating an antisemitic trope equating influence in U.S. politics with money from “wealthy Jewish Americans.”

Democrats, in control of the House moved on after Omar apologized, but Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in anticipation of becoming House speaker this year, promised in 2021 to remove her if his party reclaimed the majority this year, calling her past remarks “appalling, wrong and disqualifying.”

Before the vote, at his weekly press conference Thursday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-CA) said the Democratic caucus condemned Omar’s comments three years ago and added that the vote would be about “political revenge.” 

That’s “revenge” for the House’s Democratic majority in the 117th Congress having removed Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) from their committee assignments two years ago over apparent endorsement of violence against Democratic lawmakers. 

Prior to her removal, Omar said; “My leadership and voice will not be diminished if I’m not on this committee for one term. My voice will get louder and stronger, and my leadership will be celebrated around the world as it has been.”

Go to the Comment section below or in the right column (if that’s how you lean) or email editors@thehustings.news with “for the left column” or “for the right column” in the subject line.

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