Steve King removed from all House committees

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A panel of Republican leaders voted unanimously Monday to keep veteran Iowa lawmaker Steve King off House committees, a firm rebuke to an influential opponent of illegal immigration who sparked outrage last week after openly questioning whether the term “white supremacist” was offensive.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said the decision by the Republican Steering Committee, which seats lawmakers on House committees, followed his own recommendation and was meant to send a message about the GOP at large.

“That is not the party of Lincoln,” he said of King’s comments. “It is definitely not American. All people are created equal in America, and we want to take a very strong stance about that.”

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said there is “no place in the Republican Party, the Congress or the country for an ideology of racial supremacy of any kind,” while Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a former presidential nominee, called on King to resign.

The recent controversy was touched off when King asked in a New York Times interview published last week, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

It followed a long string of remarks disparaging of immigrants and minorities, as well as a seeming embrace of far-right foreign politicians and parties that have been openly hostile to those same groups.

King, in a statement, said, “Leader McCarthy’s decision to remove me from committees is a political decision that ignores the truth. . . . Ultimately, I told him, ‘You have to do what you have to do, and I will do what I have to do.’” King did not speak to reporters after leaving an hour-long meeting with McCarthy on Monday evening, before the steering vote.

House Democrats could bring up a measure condemning King as soon as Tuesday. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), the party’s No. 3 leader, on Monday said he would introduce a resolution to express “disapproval of Mr. King’s comments and condemnation of white nationalism and white supremacy in all forms.”

But for some Democrats, Clyburn’s reproach of King — which would be similar to the action taken against Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) after he shouted “you lie” at President Barack Obama during a September 2009 speech on health care — did not go far enough.

Assistant House Speaker Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), the fourth-ranking Democratic leader, called King’s comments “blatantly racist” and said “every action we should take should be taken” and expressed support for a formal reprimand or censure.

“This needs to stop,” he said. “Enough with him getting away with this stuff. This is nonsense.”

Shortly before the November election, for instance, King lashed out at the media after The Washington Post reported that he had met with members of a far-right Austrian party with historical Nazi ties after flying to Europe for a trip financed by a Holocaust memorial group. Republican leaders largely remained silent.

This time, more Republicans than ever are speaking out, and last week a prominent state senator announced he would seek to unseat King in the 2020 Republican primary.

After the Times interview was published, King issued a statement trying to clean up the controversy and later spoke on the House floor to say that he had made a “freshman mistake” by taking a reporter’s call and that the comments were “snippets” taken out of context of a large conversation.

That conversation, he said, was about “how did that language get injected into our political dialog? Who does that? How does it get done?”

But members of both parties have become increasingly weary of the repeated cycle of offense and outrage surrounding King. Among those speaking out against King this time include Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, and Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the most prominent black Republican in Congress.