A group of Democratic leaders in the House have now called for the removal of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) from her committee seats in the chamber in response to her repeated targeting of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Boebert has now repeatedly compared Omar, who is Muslim and was born in Somalia, to a suicide bomber, and within the House GOP, there’s been little pushback, particularly from leaders including Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The House has already removed two far-right members from their committee assignments in response to incendiary and dangerous behavior on their parts, so based on that precedent, the chamber could certainly do it again.
The heads of five Dem caucuses (Progressive, Black, Asian Pacific American, Equality, Hispanic):
"We are calling for Rep. Boebert to be removed from her committee assignments … We stand with Rep. Omar and millions of Muslims across the country who deserve better."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 2, 2021
The Democratic leaders who signed onto the new statement against Boebert include Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-Calif.). They said as follows:
‘Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has absolutely failed in leading his caucus to condemn hatred and bigotry, much less to maintain any basic standards of decency within the halls of Congress. He is unwilling or unable to control his own members from inciting violence against other Members of Congress or encouraging bigotry and hatred. If he cannot lead his own caucus, he certainly will never be able to lead the House of Representatives… It should not be a partisan issue to condemn the explicit harassment and dangerous abuse of a colleague based on their religion, but this is the level to which the GOP leader and too many members of the Republican party have sunk. In refusing to hold his membership accountable, Representative McCarthy condones this hatred and the danger it incites.’
"There has to be a resolution rebuking the words —the dangerous words — that the Congresswoman has used," Rep. Omar says of Rep. Boebert. "It is important that we also sanction her. This behavior is not indicative of a Congresswoman." https://t.co/MS3IzkuvHA
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 2, 2021
Thus, the top Democrats added that they “are calling for Representative Boebert to be removed from her committee assignments,” insisting that there “must be consequences” for “vicious workplace harassment and abuse that creates an environment so unsafe for colleagues and staff that it invites death threats against them.” It seems safe to suspect that these caucus chairs represent the opinions on this matter of at least a significant number of the members of their respective groups, so there could be ample readiness within the House to remove Boebert from committees. The House can do so with a simple majority in favor of the move. Read the full statement condemning Boebert’s behavior at this link.
I joined @RepBeatty, @RepJudyChu, @RepCicilline, and @RepRaulRuizMD today in standing with Rep. @Ilhan and millions of Muslims across America who deserve better and are looking to elected leaders to condemn islamophobia at the highest levels of government.https://t.co/iIjrVsLulQ
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) December 2, 2021
