Rep. Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, says he is preparing a formal House resolution to expel Rep. Ilhan Omar from Congress, a rare procedural step that would force every member to go on the record about the Minnesota Democrat's fitness to serve. Fine laid out his case during an interview with right-wing commentator Benny Johnson, citing what he called Omar's "Somali loyalty," alleged immigration fraud, and her alleged connection to a massive welfare fraud scandal that has engulfed her home state.
The effort faces long odds. Expelling a sitting member of Congress requires a two-thirds vote, a threshold that would demand significant Democratic support and has almost never been met in modern American history. But Fine has signaled he intends to pursue the matter on the House floor rather than through campaign rhetoric, drawing a clear line between political messaging and formal institutional action.
Mediaite reported that Fine told Johnson that Omar "shouldn't be" in the United States and called her a "problem on so many levels." He pointed to allegations of immigration fraud, her public statements about America, and what he described as deep ties to welfare fraud networks in Minnesota.
Fine did not mince words about his rationale. He cited Omar's "Somali loyalty" and claimed she is connected to a welfare fraud scandal that has rocked Minnesota, a reference to investigations involving billions of dollars in pandemic-era fraud funneled through the state's social services systems.
"80% of Somalis that have come to the United States continue to be on our welfare programs. And it appears Ilhan Omar is tied up to her neck in all of that."
That statistic, offered by Fine without a cited source, frames his broader argument: that Omar is not merely a political opponent but someone whose conduct and background disqualify her from holding office. Fine also alleged that Omar has avoided speaking with investigators looking into the fraud scheme, though he did not name the investigators or specify what evidence supports that claim.
The congressman said he is "waiting" for more details before taking the formal "step to expel her from Congress." That language suggests the resolution is still being drafted, but Fine has made clear the destination is the House floor. Breitbart reported that Fine said directly: "If I'm going to try to expel her, it won't be in a fundraising email... She'll deal with it on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives."
That promise sets Fine apart from lawmakers who have used Omar as a fundraising foil without pursuing formal consequences. Whether the resolution materializes, and whether GOP leadership backs it, remains an open question.
Omar moved to the United States from Somalia in 1995 at the age of 12. She was elected to represent Minnesota in 2018, becoming one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress. Her tenure has been marked by persistent controversy, over her public statements about the United States, her personal finances, and her relationship with her home country.
Last year, Omar asserted that the U.S. was turning into "one of the worst countries" in the world and referenced what she called "unthinkable atrocities." Those remarks drew sharp criticism from Republicans who accused her of ingratitude toward the country that took her in as a refugee. Minnesota state lawmakers have separately demanded records from Omar in connection with the Feeding Our Future fraud probe, a case that has drawn national attention.
Fine's allegations about welfare fraud point to a real and sprawling scandal. Federal prosecutors have pursued cases involving billions of dollars in fraudulent claims routed through Minnesota's pandemic-era child nutrition programs. The connection Fine draws between Omar and those fraud networks, however, rests on his own assertions.
Omar, for her part, has dismissed Fine's push. Newsmax reported that she responded to the expulsion talk by saying "nobody takes that man serious", a dismissal that mirrors her broader posture toward Republican critics.
That posture has not quieted the pressure. GOP lawmakers in Minnesota have escalated their subpoena fight over Omar to the congressional level after state Democrats moved to shield her from oversight. The pattern is clear: Omar's critics see an opening, and they are pressing it from multiple directions at once.
President Donald Trump has not been shy about targeting Omar. Earlier this month, he mocked her for allegedly marrying her brother, a longstanding allegation Omar has denied. Trump's rhetoric has gone further than most elected Republicans are willing to go publicly, and his comments provide political cover for efforts like Fine's.
Trump framed his criticism in blunt terms during remarks captured by Mediaite:
"She comes here from Somalia and she tells us how to run the United States of America. She says, 'The Constitution gives me certain rights. And I demand that I be given these rights.' Get the h*** out, what a phony."
At a North Carolina rally, Trump went even further. Breitbart reported that the president said flatly: "Ilhan Omar should be sent out of our country." That line drew cheers from the crowd and landed squarely in the political debate over whether Omar's conduct and statements cross a line that warrants formal consequences.
Trump's comments have also been a feature of his Florida rally appearances, where he has targeted Omar while touting domestic policy wins like Social Security tax relief. The dual message, deliver for Americans, hold bad actors accountable, has resonated with his base.
Tom Homan, a senior Trump administration official, has added another layer. Breitbart reported that Homan said the administration is examining Omar's immigration history, suggesting the scrutiny extends beyond Congress and into the executive branch.
Expulsion is the most severe sanction Congress can impose on one of its own members. The Constitution requires a two-thirds supermajority, a bar so high that only five House members have ever been expelled in American history, three of them during the Civil War for supporting the Confederacy.
Fine's resolution, if filed, would almost certainly fail on the numbers. Republicans hold a narrow majority, and even unified GOP support would fall well short of the two-thirds threshold without dozens of Democratic votes. No serious observer expects Democrats to vote to expel one of their own caucus members.
But the political value of a floor vote extends beyond the final tally. Forcing a recorded vote puts every member on the record, including Democrats who represent swing districts and may not relish defending Omar's record. It also elevates the underlying allegations into the formal congressional record, giving them a permanence and visibility that cable news segments cannot match.
Omar has faced scrutiny on multiple fronts beyond the fraud allegations. She lashed out at a reporter who pressed her on a multimillion-dollar gap in her financial disclosures, a gap she later addressed by quietly amending those filings after her reported net worth drew GOP attention.
Fine's move fits a broader Republican strategy of using every available procedural tool to hold Democrats accountable for members whose conduct they view as disqualifying. Whether it amounts to a serious institutional effort or a high-profile messaging exercise depends on what Fine produces in the weeks ahead, and whether GOP leadership decides to put its weight behind the resolution.
Fine has said he is waiting for additional details before filing. He has not specified what those details are, who would provide them, or what timeline he is working on. The gap between his public statements and a formal resolution leaves room for the effort to stall, or to escalate quickly if new information emerges from the Minnesota fraud investigations or from the Trump administration's reported review of Omar's immigration history.
Omar has shown no sign of treating the threat as credible. Her dismissal of Fine, "nobody takes that man serious", suggests she views the effort as political theater. That may prove correct. But the convergence of a formal House resolution, executive branch scrutiny of her immigration record, and ongoing state-level demands for her records represents a level of coordinated pressure she has not faced before.
Omar has also quietly amended her financial disclosures after a reported $30 million net worth figure drew sharp questions from Republicans, a move that satisfied no one and raised more questions than it answered.
The constitutional bar for expulsion is high for good reason. Removing a duly elected member of Congress is a grave step, and the Founders intended it to be difficult. But the bar for accountability is lower. If Fine's allegations have substance, the American public deserves to see the evidence laid out in a formal proceeding, not just on a podcast.
Voters sent Omar to Washington. If her conduct disqualifies her, voters deserve the facts. And if her colleagues lack the courage to act on those facts, voters deserve to know that too.
