Democrats Will Let Ilhan Omar Keep Committee Seats Despite Antisemitism

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Democratic Party leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives will allow Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to retain her committee seats, including her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, despite her antisemitic comments Sunday alleging that Jews had bought Congress’s support for Israel.

Roll Call reported Monday evening (original links):

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he takes Omar at her word that she didn’t intend to be anti-Semitic when she said lawmakers took pro-Israel stances because of political contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [sic].

Omar has “unequivocally” apologized for the comments — after Democratic leaders called on her to do so — saying she did not mean offense or to invoke an anti-Semitic trope about Jewish money. At the same time, the Minnesota Democrat affirmed her opposition to lobbyists like AIPAC being involved in politics.

AIPAC does not contribute to candidates. Moreover, Omar’s opposition to “lobbyists” is highly selective: earlier Sunday, prior to the controversy, she retweeted a statement of support from the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a lobbyist group.