A House Republican on Monday introduced a resolution seeking to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from her committee assignments after the Minnesota Democrat made remarks criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk in the wake of his killing at a campus speaking event.
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., said the resolution would remove Omar from the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where she is the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections. Carter said Omar’s comments amounted to disparaging Kirk’s legacy and accused her of using language that incites violence against political opponents.
The move is part of a broader Republican response to Democrats whose statements about the Sept. 10, 2025, shooting in Utah have been criticized by conservatives as insufficiently condemnatory or as minimizing the role of the shooter’s motives. Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was shot in the neck and killed while speaking at a college event.
Omar drew scrutiny after an interview with the progressive outlet Zeteo in which she criticized Kirk’s past commentary and Republicans’ reaction to the shooting. In the interview, Omar said she found some of Kirk’s views objectionable and noted past comments she said downplayed the suffering of Black Americans, including opposition to Juneteenth. She said the death was “mortifying” and added that there were people who wanted to frame Kirk as simply seeking a civil debate despite a decade of comments and actions that were on record.
Omar also used profane language in criticizing figures who have pursued Democrats over their rhetoric, and she said she had empathy for Kirk’s family. Amid the backlash from conservatives, she posted on X, saying she condemned Kirk’s murder multiple times, that she did not wish violence on anyone, and that her faith teaches “the power of peace, empathy, and compassion.” The post accused right-wing accounts of trying to spin a false story and asserted that those accounts were advancing an agenda to villainize the left.
Carter, who is running for the U.S. Senate, told Fox News Digital that Omar’s remarks were "disparaging Charlie Kirk’s legacy, a God-fearing, honorable man," and called her language "disgusting." He said, "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 towards her political opponents. Committees are for serious lawmakers, not hate-spewing politicians." Carter and Omar currently both serve on the House Budget Committee.
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to Omar’s office for comment and did not receive a response by publication. Omar has previously said she condemned Kirk’s killing and expressed sympathy for his wife and children.
Republicans have broadly criticized Democrats they say are treating the killing as a product of political activism rather than a criminal act, and some have sought disciplinary or political consequences for members whose remarks they say were inappropriate. The introduction of a resolution to remove a member from committee assignments marks an escalation in that dispute.
Procedurally, removing a member from committee assignments requires action by the House, and such measures typically face a difficult path unless backed by the member’s party leadership or a majority of the chamber. The resolution’s introduction begins a formal process that could lead to debate and a vote if it advances.
The dispute underscores tensions in Washington over political rhetoric and accountability in the wake of a high-profile political killing, and it comes as lawmakers and law enforcement continue to examine security lapses at the event where Kirk was shot.