Republican eyes rogue vote to expel Ilhan Omar from Congress

Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) told Axios on Wednesday that he is "actively considering" forcing a vote to expel Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) from Congress.Why it matters: The House has struggled this year to curb the use of tools like expulsion, censure and impeachment by renegade members as a cudgel against their political adversaries.Some members have even floated raising the threshold for censure — a rebuke that is supposed to carry significant weight but has been watered down by its growing use in recent years.Fine's effort would almost certainly fail because expulsion requires a two-thirds vote in the House. If all Republicans vote to expel Omar, roughly 85 Democrats would need to join them.Driving the news: Fine, in an interview on Capitol Hill, pointed to a fundraising email from Omar's campaign suggesting he be expelled for saying Muslims should be "destroyed.""I won't send out fundraising emails calling for her expulsion. If I'm going to do that, you will see me bring the piece of paper. And I am actively considering that," he said.Fine pointed to unproven allegations — long denied by Omar — that she married her brother and what he called her "general embrace of Muslim terror" as the impetus for his potential effort."I don't think she should be a citizen, let alone a member of Congress," he added.The other side: "I don't think anybody takes that man serious," Omar told Axios in a brief interview at the Capitol."I don't think he takes himself serious, so nobody should worry about anything he says," she added.Omar has already faced an unsuccessful Republican censure effort this year after being booted from the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2023 for her criticism of Israel.Between the lines: Since entering Congress earlier this year, Fine has garnered a reputation for his unflagging support of Israel and a series of unapologetically Islamophobic remarks.Fine, who is Jewish, has advocated the mass expulsion of American Muslims, called for Gaza to be "nuked" in the same fashion as Hiroshima and defended intentionally starving Palestinians.This has put him at stark odds with Omar, a Somali-American Muslim and staunch critic of Israel who has repeatedly clashed with Fine.