DRIVING THE CONVO — House Republican leaders voted to remove Rep. Steve King (R-IA) from the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees on Monday following widespread calls for his reprimand for his comments last week which appeared to defend white nationalists and white supremacists.

Republican Party leaders, except for President Donald Trump, strongly rebuked King. “If he doesn’t understand why ‘white supremacy’ is offensive, he should find another line of work,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) called on King, who is now in his 9th term in Congress, to resign. “I think he ought to step aside and I think Congress ought to make it very clear he has no place there,” Romney said. Asked about King’s comments outside the White House, Trump told reporters, “I haven’t been following it.”

In a lengthy statement issued Monday night, King doubled down on his remarks, calling McCarthy’s decision to remove him from committees “a political decision that ignores the truth.” He vowed to “continue to point out the truth and work with all the vigor that I have to represent 4th District Iowans for at least the next two years.”

Abe Foxman emails us: “It’s better late than never. It’s about time for responsible Republicans to distance themselves and their party from bigots who have tried to embrace them. Now let’s hope POTUS does the same.”

Ari Fleischer captures the mood on the right: “I’m glad the GOP took this action against Steven King. Plain and simple, it’s the right thing to do. I also hope Democrats do the same thing and remove from their leadership and committees the Democrats who met with Louis Farrakhan.”