Fact check: Ilhan Omar is still a member of Congress, contrary to bogus Facebook post

Bayliss Wagner, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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The claim: House Democrats have kicked Ilhan Omar out of Congress

A video circulating on Facebook claims Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was ousted from her congressional seat by members of her own party.

"Finally! House Democrats Kicks Ilhan Omar out of Congress (sic)," the video is titled in an July 8 post from a "gaming" page on Facebook.

The video has been viewed more than 740,000 times and drawn thousands of reactions and comments. Some celebrated Omar's supposed ejection from Congress, while more skeptical commenters questioned the video.

The video has some relation to Omar, but it certainly doesn't show her being kicked out of Congress, where she is an active member of the House of Representatives.

The grainy, three-minute-long video shows conservative Minnesota state legislators in 2019 requesting the IRS audit Omar for what they allege is tax fraud and misuse of campaign finances. Though the video's preview screen is an image of Omar, it does not include any footage of the congresswoman.

USA TODAY reached out to the page that shared the post for comment.

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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) listens as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) speaks during a news conference about Islamophobia on Capitol Hill on November 30, 2021 in Washington, DC. A video of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) circulated on social media last week of the conservative lawmaker making anti-Muslim remarks about Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) listens as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) speaks during a news conference about Islamophobia on Capitol Hill on November 30, 2021 in Washington, DC. A video of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) circulated on social media last week of the conservative lawmaker making anti-Muslim remarks about Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Omar still an active member of Congress

According to Congress.gov, Omar is still an active representative of the House, as PolitiFact has also reported. No credible sources have reported that Omar was expelled from her seat.

As USA TODAY has reported, Omar is serving her second term in the House and will be up for reelection this November.

The video used alongside the Facebook post's claim about Omar comes from a press conference held by the New House Republican Caucus of Minnesota on Aug. 6, 2019.

In the clip, state Rep. Steve Drazkowski announces that he and nine other state legislators are asking the IRS to audit Omar's taxes in light of breaches of campaign finance and tax regulations. That June, Minnesota officials found Omar had improperly used campaign funds and that she had filed taxes jointly with a man who was not her husband, a breach of federal and Minnesota law, as Drazkowski references.

Since 2019, Omar has not been charged with any further violations of tax or campaign finance law.

Omar has previously been the subject of several false claims that USA TODAY has debunked.

Fact check: No proof of alleged voter fraud scheme or connection to Rep. Ilhan Omar

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that House Democrats have kicked Omar out of Congress. Omar is still a member of Congress, per the legislative body's website. There is no evidence or credible news reporting to support the claim that Omar was ousted.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim that House Democrats expelled Ilhan Omar