Rep. Victoria Spartz Opposes Speaker McCarthy’s Push to Remove Three Democrats from Committees

Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana announced on Tuesday that she opposes Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s push to remove three Democrats – Reps. Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar – from committees. In a strongly-worded statement, Spartz said, “As I spoke against it on the House floor two years ago, I will not support this charade again.”

McCarthy’s stated intentions are to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and keep Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., off the House Intelligence Committee. The new House GOP majority is gearing up for a showdown with Democrats over the issue, but pushback from within the House GOP has the potential to complicate an effort to oust Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, in particular.

Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina signaled to CNN earlier this month she’d be unlikely to back a measure to oust Omar if it came to the floor. Spartz’s statement on Tuesday further complicates the issue, as she is the first Republican to publicly oppose McCarthy’s efforts.

McCarthy has unilateral power to keep members off the Intelligence panel, which is structured as a permanent select committee and gives the Speaker the power to appoint members. However, the Foreign Affairs Committee is a standing committee, and the Speaker does not have the power to remove members from it.

The showdown between the House GOP and Democrats is expected to continue in the coming days. It remains to be seen whether Spartz’s opposition will be enough to sway the outcome of the dispute.