4 House Republicans vote with Dems to block resolution censuring Ilhan Omar for Charlie Kirk comments

The House of Representatives voted along bipartisan lines on Wednesday to table a resolution to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., over comments about Charlie Kirk.

Four House Republicans voted with Democrats to table the legislation, effectively blocking it from receiving its own House-wide vote. A vote to table is a procedural mechanism allowing House members to vote against consideration of a bill without having to vote on the bill itself.

The measure was blocked in a narrow 214 to 213 vote. The four Republicans who voted to table the measure are Reps. Mike Flood, R-Neb., Tom McClintock, R-Calif., Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., and Cory Mills, R-Fla.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., moved to force a vote on the resolution Tuesday by introducing it as ‘privileged,’ a mechanism that requires House leaders to deal with a measure within two legislative days. 

It’s part of the continued fallout from Omar’s remarks made days after Kirk’s assassination, which conservatives have accused of disparaging the conservative activist’s legacy.

She specifically faced backlash over an interview with progressive news outlet Zeteo, where she criticized Kirk’s past commentary and Republicans’ reaction to the shooting. She later accused Republicans of taking her words out of context, and she called Kirk’s death ‘mortifying.’

She previously told Zeteo days after Kirk’s assassination that he had ‘downplayed slavery and what Black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth shouldn’t exist.’

‘There are a lot of people who are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate,’ the ‘Squad’ member said. ‘There is nothing more effed up, you know, like, than to completely pretend that, you know, his words and actions have not been recorded and in existence for the last decade or so.’

She later posted on X amid the backlash, ‘While I disagreed with Charlie Kirk vehemently about his rhetoric, my heart breaks for his wife and children. I don’t wish violence on anyone. My faith teaches me the power of peace, empathy, and compassion. Right-wing accounts trying to spin a false story when I condemned his murder multiple times is fitting for their agenda to villainize the left to hide from the fact that Donald Trump gins up hate on a daily basis.’

Kirk was shot and killed during a college campus speaking event in Utah. 

Mace introduced her resolution on the House floor Tuesday by reading it on the House floor.

‘Charlie Kirk was a lifelong advocate for freedom of speech, civil political discourse and the political engagement of youth,’ Mace read aloud. ‘One day after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Representative Ilhan Omar gave an interview on Zeteo’s town hall with Mehdi Hassan, in which she smeared Charlie Kirk and implied he was to blame for his own murder.’

Mace also accused Omar of reposting a video that said, ‘Don’t be fooled, these people don’t give a single s— about Charlie Kirk. They’re just using his death to further their Christo-fascist agenda.’

Other progressives leaped to Omar’s defense, including Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., who posted on X, ‘Babe, those are not direct quotes from Ilhan Omar. According to the APA, if you use a direct quotation, it must sustain your claim. The quotes you used are not Ilhan’s words, they are not in context and do not prove your point. Read before you tweet.’

It’s one of several measures targeting Omar over her comments.

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., who is running for Senate, introduced his own measure to strip Omar of her committee assignments on Monday.