Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene forced House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday to consider censuring Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar following the “Squad” member’s remarks on Somalia.
The lawmaker’s move comes after a wave of criticism and backlash trailed Ms. Omar‘s speech in Minnesota in which she appeared to suggest that her allegiance was to her home country of Somalia.
Ms. Greene, Georgia Republican, read her censure resolution on the House floor and suggested that Ms. Omar‘s comments were the “treasonous tendencies that George Washington warned about” during his 1796 farewell address.
She introduced the resolution as privileged, requiring Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, to hold a vote on the legislation next week.
Speaking to reporters outside of the House chamber, Ms. Greene said that she had tipped off the speaker on her intent to force a vote on censuring Ms. Omar, Minnesota Democrat, but did not have a guarantee that Mr. Johnson would support the measure during a floor vote.
She said that plenty of outrage has followed since Ms. Omar‘s comments, in which she seemingly told onlookers that she “represents the interests of a foreign country in her role as a United States representative.”
“I mean, that’s literally treason,” Ms. Greene said. “I would love to have her expelled. I’d love to have her deported, and I think many Americans would agree with that.”
She said, “Unfortunately, I don’t think we have the votes to do that. So I’m hoping that we can at least censure her.”
Ms. Greene‘s move comes after House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Minnesota Republican, called for an ethics investigation into Ms. Omar‘s remarks earlier this week, where he also called for her expulsion from Congress.
Ms. Omar, who is an American citizen, pushed back against the criticisms of her speech following Mr. Emmer’s push for an ethics probe. She argued that the video of her speech was “completely off,” and that much of the blowback was based on an inaccurate translation of her remarks, which were given in Somali.