A growing political storm is unfolding on Capitol Hill as a House Republican has formally called for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to be stripped of her committee assignments following comments she made that were perceived by critics as disparaging toward conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in the aftermath of his assassination last week.
The push is being led by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), who announced that he intends to introduce a resolution on Monday that would officially seek Omar’s removal from two high-profile panels: the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Omar currently serves on both and holds the influential position of ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. Carter and his allies argue that lawmakers who, in their view, use rhetoric that could be interpreted as minimizing or disrespecting the life of an assassination victim should not be trusted with such responsibilities.
The controversy erupted after Omar participated in an interview with the progressive outlet Zeteo in the days following Kirk’s death. In that conversation, she strongly criticized not only Kirk’s record of commentary but also what she described as Republicans’ politically charged response to his assassination. While conservatives quickly accused her of showing a lack of empathy and attempting to tarnish Kirk’s memory, Omar pushed back. She insisted that her remarks were taken out of context, reaffirmed that she found Kirk’s killing “mortifying,” and stressed that she condemned political violence of any kind.
Still, her exact words became the center of a heated dispute. Omar pointed out during the interview that Kirk had previously “downplayed slavery and what Black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth shouldn’t exist.” She further argued that some of the narratives surrounding Kirk’s reputation since his death were misleading. “There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate,” Omar said. “There is nothing more effed up, you know, than to completely pretend that his words and actions have not been recorded and in existence for the last decade or so.”
Those comments struck a nerve with conservatives. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Carter blasted Omar’s statements as disrespectful and unacceptable. “Disparaging Charlie Kirk’s legacy, a God-fearing, honorable man, for boldly sharing his conservative beliefs is disgusting,” Carter declared. “The radical left has normalized meeting free speech with violence, and it must stop. No one who justifies the assassination of someone with different political views than them deserves to sit on a committee, and Ilhan Omar openly used language that incites violence toward her political opponents. Committees are for serious lawmakers, not hate-spewing politicians.”
The conflict over Omar’s role in Congress is not new. Since she first entered Washington in 2019 as part of the progressive “Squad,” she has repeatedly been at the center of firestorms that led to calls for her removal from congressional committees. Critics frequently cite past remarks they consider deeply problematic. Among the most prominent was her 2019 suggestion that U.S. support for Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” a comment widely condemned as antisemitic and one for which Omar later apologized. That same year, she also faced intense backlash for characterizing the 9/11 terrorist attacks in a speech as “some people did something,” a phrase that sparked bipartisan criticism and became a rallying point for her opponents.
Republicans have previously attempted to expel Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, arguing that her past comments and controversial positions disqualified her from shaping U.S. foreign policy. Democrats, on the other hand, have largely defended her presence on key committees, contending that GOP-led efforts to oust her amount to partisan retaliation and an attempt to silence one of the most outspoken progressive voices in Congress.
Now, with Kirk’s assassination still fresh in the national consciousness and emotions running high, the debate over Omar’s committee assignments has resurfaced with renewed urgency. For Carter and other Republicans, the episode represents what they see as a pattern of inflammatory rhetoric from Omar that disrespects victims and fuels division. For Omar and her supporters, however, it is yet another instance of political opponents exploiting tragedy to weaken her influence in Washington.
What happens next will depend on whether Carter’s resolution gains enough traction among House Republicans and whether Democrats, once again, choose to rally in Omar’s defense. Either way, the controversy underscores how tragedies like Kirk’s assassination not only grieve the nation but also ignite fierce battles over political speech, accountability, and the limits of partisanship in Congress.