Ilhan Omar: Breaking the Mold & Taking a New Path No Longer Defined by ‘Firsts’

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President Joe Biden was giving a speech at a place in Minnesota that made clean energy when he noticed the Democratic member of Congress, Ilhan Omar, in the audience. He thanked her for being there and said she was working really hard to make sure everyone had an equal chance.

President Biden recently visited Minnesota and he praised Omar, which means that he wanted to recognize her efforts even though she wasn’t his first or second choice for the 2020 White House. This recognition is especially important because at the start of her political career there were some bumps in the road that made it hard for people to trust her as a Democrat.

Omar is now in her third term as a Congresswoman and has put down her “firsts”: she was the first Muslim woman elected to the House, the first refugee from Africa to join, and she was also the first person to wear a hijab on the House floor.

In interviews with nearly a dozen Democrats from both the House and Senate, it was made clear that Congresswoman Omar has gained lots of respect for standing up for those whose views are usually ignored in Washington. For example, at the start of 2020 all Democrats in the House voted against trying to take her off the House Foreign Affairs Committee due to statements she had previously made about Israel.

Omar told Big Big News that she feels her success in getting the Democratic caucus, party and establishment to recognize her for the unique identity she has. Other Democrats, especially those of Jewish descent, argued against the new Republican majority because they thought it was wrong.

Rep. Jan Shakowsky said that nobody needs to protect her from antisemitism because her friend Ilhan Omar and her share similar values, even though Ilhan is the only Islamic woman on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Democrats tried to get back at far-right Republican lawmakers who said some really bad stuff. However, the conversation about Democrat Representative Omar was not heated like before. Before that, the Democrats had to face the fact that different opinions exist once Omar expressed her views on Israel which didn’t always match up with the party’s views.

Omar posted on social media about pro-Israel lobbyists and asked why some Jewish lawmakers disagreed with her views. Later, she said sorry to these people both publically and privately because she didn’t mean to question their loyalty; Omar was only concerned that anything she said about Israel would be misunderstood as being anti-semitic.

In response, some Democratic lawmakers created a plan to criticize antisemitism. Initially, this plan even mentioned Representative Omar’s name. There were only a few Democrats inside and outside of Congress that defended her then.

Senator Sanders from Vermont, who is the most prominent progressive in Congress, stated in April 2019 that Representative Omar might need to communicate better with the Jewish community, but she was just voicing out her opinions about Israel’s right-wing government and not being anti-Semitic.

When Ben Rhodes, an advisor to former President Barack Obama, first met Omar, he knew she wanted to use her experience and make changes in foreign policy.

According to Rhodes, there are many people in Congress that think of American foreign policy in the traditional way. But what’s needed is a different point of view which she can provide.

Democrats passed a law in 2019 that spoke against anti-Muslim bias, but did not name anyone in particular. For the next few years, Omar was trying to make people aware of things that effected immigrants and families living in her district and across Minnesota. And because of this, she gained the support from different parts of the party.

Rep. Dean Phillips, a congressman from Minnesota, said that the more time he has spent with her, the more he understands how important her opinion is not just to our country or community in Minnesota, but also around the world. He believes that although they don’t always agree with each other, they can still be a great example of handling disagreement properly.

Omar worked hard, climbing up to the highest positions in a group in Congress called the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She started by helping Rep. Pramila Jayapal count votes during debates, and her help made it easier for President Biden’s ideas to become laws that passed through Congress. In January, Omar was given an even bigger role as deputy caucus chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus because over one hundred other members voted for her.

Jayapal said that the person won’t stop speaking out on foreign matters. Taking her off a committee will not be enough to keep her quiet. She’s too determined for that to work.

Omar was born in Somalia and recently started working with Joe Biden and the Democratic Party to show what can be achieved through legislation over the last two years, such as creating a new infrastructure law. He is making a difference as part of a minority group.

Rep. Jim Clyburn said it’s not nice to be taken off a committee, but he believes that Rep. Omar can turn this experience into something positive. She is now chairing a group of more than a dozen House Democrats who are focused on making policy related to Africa.

Rep. Sara Jacobs mentioned that although she and her group don’t always agree on things, they share a similar outlook when it comes to the African continent. They do not suggest leading with military power but instead being diplomatic and making human rights and good governance the core values of their engagement in this area.

Many people worried that when Republicans took Omar off the House Foreign Affairs Committee, it meant they were silencing her on foreign policy. But Omar said they made a big mistake. Instead she was assigned to the House Budget Committee.

Omar joked that this means Republicans “promoted” her!

We are going to get a chance to use our resources for many different things related to foreign policy, like learning more about defense, diplomacy and how we can help other countries. Plus, we will have a say in the discussions on how much money we should spend on defense.