Key House panel proposes to have ‘so help you God’ removed from oath

The House Committee on Natural Resources is reportedly seeking to have the words “so help you God” removed from the oath recited by witnesses who testify before the panel, according to a proposal obtained by Fox News.

The rules proposal states that witnesses appearing in hearings before the committee would be administered the following oath: “Do you solemnly swear or affirm, under penalty of law, that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth[, so help you God]?”

{mosads}According to Fox News, the “so help you God” phrasing is written in brackets in red in the draft which indicates the words are slated for removal.

The committee will reportedly vote on the decision to remove the religious phrasing from the rules this week. The change would be enacted immediately if passed.

The proposal is reportedly part of a larger rules package that is also expected to be approved this week.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) criticized the move to strike the phrasing from the committee’s rules in a statement to Fox News.

“It is incredible, but not surprising, that the Democrats would try to remove God from committee proceedings in one of their first acts in the majority,” she told the publication.

“They really have become the party of Karl Marx,” she added.

The Fox News report notes that many federal oaths include the phrase, but some, including the presidential oath of office, do not.