U.S. Representative and white nationalist Steve King (R-IA) has been stripped of all of his committee assignments by an unanimous vote of the steering committee of the House Republican Conference in response to disgustingly bigoted remarks that King made, which were published by The New York Times in an article by the Times's Trip Gabriel:
Before I explain the significance of Steve King losing all of his committee assignments, I will directly address King's offensive remarks.
There are major reasons why white nationalist, white supremacist, and Western civilization are offensive terms. Those terms are all offensive because they are used to describe a political system in which racist white people are the political rulers and non-whites, as well as whites who are politically opposed to white nationalism and white supremacism are systematically oppressed. White nationalism is literally the concept that white people are entitled to their own nation, and is often used to describe a concept in which racist white people believe that they are entitled to a national identity of their own and political power, which is blatantly racist. White supremacism is literally the concept that white people are superior to people of other races, which is blatantly racist. Western civilization is the concept of societies that consist predominantly of, or otherwise ruled predominantly by, people of the Caucasian race, and the term "Western civilization" has a connotation that societies that aren't predominantly Caucuasian or ruled predominantly by people of the Caucasian race are not civilizations, which is blatantly racist. One who is such a bigoted person as to believe that terms like white nationalist and white supremacist aren't offensive has a system of political values are fundamentally against American values.
This is not the first time that King's comments or political views have caused controversy. In fact, a large portion of the Wikipedia article has been devoted to political controversies involving King, and anything else that I could add would be redundant.
Now, I will explain the significance of Steve King losing all of his committee assignments.
One reason why King losing his committee assignments is significant is because, as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) explained on Twitter, committee assignments are highly valued by Members of Congress:
A further reason why King being stripped of his committee assignments is significant is that it is extremely rare for a member of either house of Congress who is not in a high-ranking leadership position of any kind (in the House, a position like House Speaker or House Minority Leader) to not have any committee assignments. The last time I can recall a member of either house of Congress who was not in a high-ranking leadership position being stripped of his or her committee assignments was when then-U.S. Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH) was stripped of all of his committee assignments by the House Democratic Caucus in 2001 and was not assigned to any committees by the Republicans; Traficant was later expelled from the House altogether after being convicted on federal corruption charges.
One more reason why King being stripped of his committee assignments is significant is because King's political views is, of all of the members of either house of Congress, at least arguably the most similar to those of President Donald Trump. Keep in mind that both Trump and King are infamous for promoting far-right white supremacist political ideology, with some of Trump's staunchest political allies being far-right extremists like King and Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller.
“White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?...Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?”Those words are not mine, and they are not those of Gabriel. Those words are those of Steve King.
Before I explain the significance of Steve King losing all of his committee assignments, I will directly address King's offensive remarks.
There are major reasons why white nationalist, white supremacist, and Western civilization are offensive terms. Those terms are all offensive because they are used to describe a political system in which racist white people are the political rulers and non-whites, as well as whites who are politically opposed to white nationalism and white supremacism are systematically oppressed. White nationalism is literally the concept that white people are entitled to their own nation, and is often used to describe a concept in which racist white people believe that they are entitled to a national identity of their own and political power, which is blatantly racist. White supremacism is literally the concept that white people are superior to people of other races, which is blatantly racist. Western civilization is the concept of societies that consist predominantly of, or otherwise ruled predominantly by, people of the Caucasian race, and the term "Western civilization" has a connotation that societies that aren't predominantly Caucuasian or ruled predominantly by people of the Caucasian race are not civilizations, which is blatantly racist. One who is such a bigoted person as to believe that terms like white nationalist and white supremacist aren't offensive has a system of political values are fundamentally against American values.
This is not the first time that King's comments or political views have caused controversy. In fact, a large portion of the Wikipedia article has been devoted to political controversies involving King, and anything else that I could add would be redundant.
Now, I will explain the significance of Steve King losing all of his committee assignments.
One reason why King losing his committee assignments is significant is because, as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) explained on Twitter, committee assignments are highly valued by Members of Congress:
Another reason why King losing his committee assignments is significant is because congressional committees hold quite a bit of political power and are, under normal circumstances, highly important to the federal legislative process. The Wikipedia article for U.S. congressional committees described the importance of congressional committees as follows:Tonight, Rep. Steve King was stripped of all his committee assignments for his embrace of white supremacy.— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 15, 2019
He will not serve on a single committee for the next 2 years of the 116th Congress.
Committee assignments are powerful. Members spend years working for their desired spot. https://t.co/WLkH2os8Pw
Congress divides its legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks among approximately 200 committees and subcommittees. Within assigned areas, these functional subunits gather information; compare and evaluate legislative alternatives; identify policy problems and propose solutions; select, determine, and report measures for full chamber consideration; monitor executive branch performance (oversight); and investigate allegations of wrongdoing. While this investigatory function is important, procedures such as the House discharge petition process (the process of bringing a bill onto the floor without a committee report or mandatory consent from its leadership) are so difficult to implement that committee jurisdiction over particular subject matter of bills has expanded into semi-autonomous power. Of the 73 discharge petitions submitted to the full House from 1995 through 2007, only one was successful in securing a definitive yea-or-nay vote for a bill.Yet another reason why King being stripped of his committee assignments is significant is that congressional committee assignments are controlled by party caucuses. This means that King's own political party removed him from all of his committee assignments, meaning that King being stripped of his committee assignments is a major rebuke of King's far-right politics and rhetoric within his own party.
The growing autonomy of committees has fragmented the power of each congressional chamber as a unit. This dispersion of power has possibly weakened the legislative branch relative to the other two branches of the federal government, the executive branch and the judiciary branch. In his often cited article History of the House of Representatives, written in 1961, American scholar George B. Galloway (1898–1967) wrote: "In practice, Congress functions not as a unified institution, but as a collection of semi-autonomous committees that seldom act in unison." Galloway went on to cite committee autonomy as a factor interfering with the adoption of a coherent legislative program. Such autonomy remains a characteristic feature of the committee system in Congress today.
A further reason why King being stripped of his committee assignments is significant is that it is extremely rare for a member of either house of Congress who is not in a high-ranking leadership position of any kind (in the House, a position like House Speaker or House Minority Leader) to not have any committee assignments. The last time I can recall a member of either house of Congress who was not in a high-ranking leadership position being stripped of his or her committee assignments was when then-U.S. Rep. Jim Traficant (D-OH) was stripped of all of his committee assignments by the House Democratic Caucus in 2001 and was not assigned to any committees by the Republicans; Traficant was later expelled from the House altogether after being convicted on federal corruption charges.
One more reason why King being stripped of his committee assignments is significant is because King's political views is, of all of the members of either house of Congress, at least arguably the most similar to those of President Donald Trump. Keep in mind that both Trump and King are infamous for promoting far-right white supremacist political ideology, with some of Trump's staunchest political allies being far-right extremists like King and Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller.
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