GOP Lawmakers Want to Continue Blackballing Steve King
Jose Nino
|
High-ranking Republican officials are not interested in putting Congressman Steve King back on committees he was kicked out of last year after he made statements about Western civilization that were manipulated by the media.
“It’s bullshit. We have not discussed this at steering,” one member of the Steering Committee, said to The Hill.
King is currently facing a primary challenge from State Senator Randy Feenstra.
King and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy came to an agreement where McCarthy will push for King to be re-instated on the committees.
“On April 20, Kevin McCarthy and I reached an agreement that he would advocate to the steering committee to put all of my committees back, all of my seniority,” King said at a forum, according to a Sioux City Journal report.
“When Congress comes back into session, when the steering committee can (inaudible) together, I have Kevin McCarthy’s word that that will be my time for exoneration,” King stated.
However, members of the Steering Committee said that they have no plans to put King back on the panels.
“Someone forwarded me an article where Rep. Steve King claims he will get his committees back next year,” Ohio congressman Steve Stivers posted on Instagram.
“I am a member of the Republican Steering Committee and former NRCC Chairman, and as long as I am a member of the Steering Committee, I will not allow that type of person or that type of ideology to influence the legislation passed by Congress. He will not be serving on any committee. Steve King does more to hurt Republican and conservative causes than help,” he stated.
King’s immigration patriotism and bluntness has earned him many enemies in Congress. He also attacked Stivers’ critiques, contending that the Ohio Republican’s beliefs don’t represent the bulk of the members on the Steering Committee.
“Never-Trumper Stivers is only one vote on Steering, known for his singular inability to discern fact from fiction,” King declared in a statement.
“No one trusts his leadership since he sacrificed the Republican Majority as NRCC Chair in 2018, enabling Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff to impeach President Trump,” he added. “Stivers should be held accountable. No respectable Republican believes the New York Times.”
House GOP leaders removed King from his committee assignments after The New York Times distorted some of his comments during an interview featuring him in 2019.
King believes his comments were taken out of context and a handful of Republicans called for him to reinstated last year.
Although King has faced a number of controversies in the last few years, recent polls show that he has an 8-point lead over Feenstra leading into the June 2 primary.
McCarthy’s office said that while King will be able to defend himself in front of the Steering Committee members, he has not been made a promise for reinstatement.
“Congressman King’s past comments cannot be exonerated,” a spokesman for the House Republican leader said. “Committee assignments are determined by the steering committee and he will have the opportunity to make his case.”
Share: