GOP Rep. Walker Says Amash Should Lose Committee Seats

Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., followed by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, leaving a closed-door strategy session on March 28, 2017. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) said on July 4 that Rep. Justin Amash should also lose his committee seats now that the Michigan lawmaker is exiting the Republican Party.

“Amash left the @freedomcaucus now he’s leaving the @GOP. The @HouseGOP never left @justinamash - we simply ran out of space for his ego. However, we should make sure he leaves Conference and his committee,” Walker, who is the vice chairman of the House Republic Conference, said in a Twitter post.

Amash declared his intention to leave the Republican party in an op-ed published in the Washington Post. In the piece, he said that he grew up in a Republican household, saying his father, a refugee from Palestine, and his mother, also an immigrant, were both Republicans.

“The Republican Party, I believed, stood for limited government, economic freedom and individual liberty—principles that had made the American Dream possible for my family,” he wrote.

“In recent years, though, I’ve become disenchanted with party politics and frightened by what I see from it. The two-party system has evolved into an existential threat to American principles and institutions.”

“Today, I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party. No matter your circumstance, I’m asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us,” he added.

The only other independent in Congress at present is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a socialist who is running for president in the Democratic primary.

Following the publication of the op-ed, President Donald Trump reacted to the announcement, saying it was “great news” that Amash is leaving the GOP.

“Great news for the Republican Party as one of the dumbest & most disloyal men in Congress is ‘quitting’ the Party,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“Knew he couldn’t get the nomination to run again in the Great State of Michigan. Already being challenged for his seat. A total loser!” he added.

Trump and Amash have openly criticized each other after the Michigan congressman called for the president’s impeachment in May.

Amash accused Trump of “impeachable conduct” in a series of messages on Twitter last month, calling on Congress to impeach the president.

The Michigan congressman said he came to his conclusion after reading the report by special counsel Robert Mueller. The report, which was released on April 18, found that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Mueller also decided not to file an obstruction of justice charge against the president.

Along with making accusations against Trump, Amash also alleged that Attorney General William Barr intentionally misrepresented the principal conclusions of the special counsel report.

Amash’s remarks against Trump have angered many Republicans and fellow Michiganders. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a fellow Michigander, criticized Amash last month, saying that the congressman was “parroting the Democrats’ talking points on Russia,” reported the Washington Examiner.

According to his official government biography, Amash serves as a member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, as well as on its Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Subcommittee on National Security.

In June, Amash announced that he was stepping down from the House Freedom Caucus.

NTD reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.