Rep. Ilhan Omar gave her blessing to her top congressional aide marrying a young underling – and even promoted the bride a month before the wedding, The Post has learned.
The lefty “Squad” member from Minnesota attended the Dec. 19 nuptials in the Virginia countryside, lending her seal of approval to the union between her longtime Chief of Staff Connor McNutt, 36, and legislative aide Tahreem Alam, 27. They both still work in Omar’s office.
The whole staff got invited, according to sources, and images reviewed by The Post indicate festive wedding ceremonies, including one where the bride and groom wore traditional south Asian garb.
But not everyone in Omar’s Capitol Hill orbit was ready to celebrate.
One Democratic source fumed at a “glaring conflict and abuse of power dynamics” in the office that preceded the wedding, since McNutt had oversight over his future bride.
“Turning a blind eye to this sort of conduct within her own office, and then attending the wedding on top of that, and being by all accounts pretty supportive of it . . . I find it gross, especially coming from like a progressive stalwart like her,” said the source.
“We generally don’t comment on the personal lives of our staff, but yes, the two of them got married and we are happy for them,” an Omar spokesperson told The Post.
Omar’s team said Alam isn’t supervised by her husband, and that the lawmaker makes all promotions in the office, and that the relationship and office policies had been disclosed to “relevant parties.”
“Yes, the Congresswoman gives the raises and promotions,” Omar’s office said when asked if the arrangement was in place when the promotion went through.
What irked the source most was the sequence of events. The bride, Alam, got promoted from staff assistant to her more substantial policy role in November 2025 – just a month before the wedding, the source said, although it was unclear if her fiancee had influence over the decision.
The relationship raises “serious questions” about potential “favoritism and misuse of resources,” according to the source, who said Omar failed to adequately address a “textbook power imbalance.”
A second source noted that the marital announcement — shortly before the wedding date in December — blind-sided office staffers, some of whom expressed concerns to the congresswoman.
Salary data posted by LegiStorm reveal Alam earned $67,000 in 2025, including $1,200 in “other compensation” that came in September.
She previously worked in a lower staff assistant role and keeping Omar’s schedule. It wasn’t known when Alam and McNutt started dating.
McNutt wrote on his LinkedIn page that he manages a staff of 16. House offices typically have 18 staff and four part-timers.
The House passed a resolution in 2018 that banned sexual relationships between lawmakers and “any employee of the House that works under [their] supervision.”
But there is no such prohibition on the books for senior staff romancing subordinates, something Alam is not according to Omar’s office.
The policy doesn’t mention the issue of dating between aides and their superiors. Each congressional office gets to decide its own staff policies, although all must comply with federal laws dealing with discrimination and harassment.
Omar has a head-spinning personal marriage history, having applied for a marriage license with Ahmed Hirsi in 2002 when she was 19, but instead held a religious ceremony, then legally marrying Ahmed Nur Said Elmi in 2009.
Omar then got back together with Hirsi in 2018 after divorcing Elmi the year before.
Omar and Hirsi divorced in 2019.
The lawmaker then married longtime political operative Tim Mynett in 2020, after an alleged affair that prompted calls for an Ethics probe.
“There doesn’t appear to be a violation of the ethics rules in this case,” said Donald Sherman, CEO of Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington. “But members and the [Ethics] Committee certainly should be advised and have procedures in place to make sure that romantic relationships and attempted romantic relationships in their office do not run afoul of harassment or the prohibition on favoritism in congressional offices.”
Read the full article here
