Expel Delia Ramirez — and enforce the oath of office



A sitting member of Congress declaring on foreign soil, in a foreign language, that she has primary allegiance to a foreign country sounds like the plot of a Russian spy thriller. Instead, Americans got a political telenovela when Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told an audience in Mexico, in Spanish, “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.”

The only real surprise is that Ramirez said it out loud — on camera — and without qualification. Given the decline in standards among today’s lawmakers, especially on the Democrat side of the aisle, the sentiment isn’t shocking. The candor is.

Americans deserve to see whether Congress will enforce its own standards. Every member should go on record.

Ramirez’s statement has drawn condemnation from commentators, political leaders, and media outlets. Condemnation isn’t enough. She should be expelled from the House of Representatives. The Oversight Project has even done the work for members. On Thursday, we released the draft text of an expulsion resolution.

Realistically, that won’t happen. The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote to expel a member, and Democrats will protect one of their own, even when that member flagrantly violates her oath of office.

Still, the vote should happen. Americans deserve to see whether Congress will enforce its own standards. Every member should go on record. Let the chips on “foreign interference” fall where they may.

The founders foresaw this

Congress has expelled 21 members in U.S. history — 17 for supporting the Confederacy, three for bribery or fraud, and one senator for siding with the British in West Florida. Almost no precedent exists for expelling a sitting member for declaring loyalty to a foreign country. That’s what makes Ramirez’s admission so remarkable.

The Constitution is built on the premise that lawmakers must have allegiance to the United States — exclusively. The founders addressed the danger of foreign influence in the oath of office, in treason’s definition, and in George Washington’s Farewell Address warning against “entangling alliances” and urging that the “name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity,” must take precedence over all other allegiances.

Expelling Ramirez would reaffirm that basic principle. Her district in Chicago is nearly 30% foreign-born and 42% Latino, according to recent, questionable census data. Many in her district no doubt share her divided loyalties, but that does not excuse it in an elected representative to Congress. Democracy may have put her in office, but the Constitution provides a remedy when loyalty to another nation trumps loyalty to the United States.

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Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

Our draft resolution makes the case succinctly: Ramirez violated the oath she took upon entering office — to support and defend the Constitution and bear “true faith and allegiance to the same.” On May 14, she posted: “I swore an oath to protect the Constitution.” She remembers the oath well enough when it suits her politics.

If Congress cannot enforce that oath in the face of such a blatant breach, then the oath is meaningless.

No dual allegiances

Over the past few decades, Democrats have turned constitutional principles into political bargaining chips. Quiet subversion has given way to open defiance — nowhere more evident than in the immigration debate. Increasingly, they argue not over policy details, but over whether the United States should have immigration laws at all.

Republicans, for their part, have largely failed to confront this trend. Too often they negotiate away sovereignty in exchange for hollow compromises. That must end.

The line is simple: The United States cannot have a member of Congress whose primary allegiance is to Guatemala — or any other nation. Congress should act accordingly. Ramirez should be expelled.

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US to expel 12 Russian diplomats for 'engaging in espionage activities'



A dozen diplomats from the Russian Mission to the United Nations are being kicked out of America, according to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. which said that the 12 individuals perpetrated espionage, and the move to expel them has been in the works for months.

"The United States has informed the United Nations and the Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations that we are beginning the process of expelling twelve intelligence operatives from the Russian Mission who have abused their privileges of residency in the United States by engaging in espionage activities that are adverse to our national security. We are taking this action in accordance with the UN Headquarters Agreement. This action has been in development for several months," a spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the U.N. said in a statement.

The announcement comes as Russia continues to invade the sovereign nation of Ukraine, wreaking death and destruction as Ukrainians bravely fight to defend their country.

While President Biden has declared that the U.S. will defend NATO territory, he has said that American forces will not get involved in the battle between Russia and Ukraine.

But while the U.S. has ruled out military intervention in Ukraine, it is providing military and humanitarian assistance to the embattled nation — the U.S. has also levied sanctions to target Russia economically.

"Today, as Ukraine fights with courage and pride against Russia’s brutal and unprovoked assault, I have authorized, pursuant to a delegation by the President, an unprecedented third Presidential Drawdown of up to $350 million for immediate support to Ukraine’s defense," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press statement last week. "This brings the total security assistance the United States has committed to Ukraine over the past year to more than $1 billion."

"This package will include further lethal defensive assistance to help Ukraine address the armored, airborne, and other threats it is now facing. It is another clear signal that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereign, courageous, and proud nation," Blinken said.

Dem congressman introducing resolution to expel GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from House



Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California announced Wednesday night that he will introduce a resolution calling for newly-elected Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to be expelled from the House of Representatives, citing reports of her "repeated endorsements of sedition, domestic terrorism, and political violence."

What are the details?

Gomez tweeted, "I don't need to explain why @RepMTG is a clear and present danger to Congress and our democracy. She did it herself. And she must go. I'm introducing a resolution to expel her from Congress immediately."

In a press release, the congressman wrote, "As if it weren't enough to amplify conspiracy theories that the September 11 attacks were an inside job and the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was staged, a string of recent media reports has now confirmed that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had previously supported social media posts calling for political violence against the Speaker of the House, members of Congress, and former President Barack Obama."

He argued:

Such advocacy for extremism and sedition not only demands her immediate expulsion from Congress, but it also merits strong and clear condemnation from all of her Republican colleagues, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Her very presence in office represents a direct threat against the elected officials and staff who serve our government, and it is with their safety in mind, as well as the security of institutions and public servants across our country, that I call on my House colleagues to support my resolution to immediately remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from this legislative body."

At the time of Gomez's announcement, Rep. Greene's name had already been trending on Twitter for hours after video went viral showing Greene accosting Parkland survivor and gun-control advocate David Hogg as he walked through Washington, D.C., in March of 2019—roughly one year after the mass murder that took the lives of 17 people and left several more injured.

.@mtgreenee, is this you harassing @davidhogg111 weeks after the Parkland shooting, that my daughter was killed in… https://t.co/WzP4WCaJM3
— Fred Guttenberg (@Fred Guttenberg)1611753995.0

Gomez did not make mention of Greene confronting Hogg, but pointed to several other instances of the congresswoman's past social media activity, such as when she "like a comment from 2019 that a 'bullet to the head would be quicker' than an election for removing Speaker Pelosi from office, and messages about executing FBI agents working for the 'deep state.'"

On Tuesday, CNN published a report detailing Greene's controversial messages, including a post where she suggested Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama would be hanged over the Iran Deal.

A commenter asked Greene, "Now we get to hang them?? Meaning H & O???," to which she replied, "Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off."

Greene called the CNN story a "hit piece," and issued a statement saying, "Over the years, I've had teams of people manage my pages. Many posts have been liked. Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views. Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet."

The Republican from Georgia has only been in Congress for a few weeks, but already filed articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden. She has also been accused of following the QAnon conspiracy theory.