Why Kicking Ilhan Omar Out of Congress Is Harder Than It Sounds

Why Kicking Ilhan Omar Out of Congress Is Harder Than It Sounds

Trump Demands Her Immediate Resignation

President Donald Trump has demanded that Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota Democrat, resign from Congress "IMMEDIATELY," claiming she used a "fake name" to get elected and take the oath of office. In a Truth Social post on October 22 and at a rally in Iowa, Trump asserted that her real name is "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi," that she committed fraud, and that Democrats had effectively conceded her seat.

A Court Filing's "a/k/a" Lights the Fuse

The uproar traces to a federal court filing from the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, obtained by Fox News, that refers to the congresswoman as "Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar." The filing concerns efforts to keep materials sealed in connection with the search warrant for Omar's Washington-area home. Reporting on her birth name gave Trump's "fake name" charge its documentary hook.

A Raided Home and a Citizenship Probe

Behind the rhetoric sits a real investigation. On October 12, Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar's Washington home and seized her phone, computer, and passport. Reporting indicates the probe centers not on her marriage history but on immigration paperwork: whether Omar or her late father misstated her birth year, listing her as 17 rather than 18, so she could derive citizenship through her father as a minor. Long-running claims by right-wing figures that she married her brother for immigration purposes, which Omar denies, form the backdrop.

Omar Fires Back: "My Name Has Always Been Ilhan Omar"

Omar hit back hard on October 23, calling Trump a "creep" and accusing him of "laundering right-wing conspiracy theories through the most corrupt DOJ in American history." Her spokesperson told Fox News the fake-name claim was "completely false," insisting "Ilhan Omar is her real name" and calling the story a "desperate smear." She has not been charged with any crime.

Expulsion Takes Two-Thirds of the House, Not a Post

Removing a sitting member of Congress is one of the rarest acts in American politics. Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution gives the expulsion power to the House itself, requiring a two-thirds vote; the president has no say. Only six House members have ever been expelled, three of them in 1861 for joining the Confederacy. The most recent was Rep. George Santos, expelled 311–114 on December 1, 2023, the first expulsion without a criminal conviction or Confederate ties. Rep. Randy Fine of Florida says he will introduce an expulsion resolution if the federal probe finds Omar broke the law, but without an ironclad conviction, two-thirds of the House will not vote to expel.

Denaturalization Is an Even Steeper Climb

The administration's other path, stripping Omar's citizenship and deporting her, faces higher walls still. Border czar Tom Homan said denaturalization and deportation are "of course" possible if she lied during naturalization, while conceding it is "a long, tedious process." Legal experts describe citizenship as a "safe harbor": criminal denaturalization demands proof beyond a reasonable doubt of knowing fraud, and the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Maslenjak v. United States (2017) that only an illegal act that played a role in obtaining citizenship counts. Civil cases require "clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence," an independent federal judge must approve, and criminal charges carry a 10-year statute of limitations.

What Comes Next: Charges, Votes, and Politics

Three things to watch: whether prosecutors bring criminal charges at all, without which neither expulsion nor denaturalization can advance; whether Fine's resolution can ever near two-thirds support; and the political theater, with Omar framing the affair as a distraction tactic and Trump rallying his base. Until hard evidence lands, removing Omar from Congress looks far harder than Trump suggests.