House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has nominated Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) for seats on the House Intelligence Committee, despite Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) repeated promises to keep them off that panel.
In the last Congress, Schiff served as chairman of the committee. Swalwell was also a member.
“I write today to submit for renomination two eminently qualified legislators to continue their service on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Ranking Member Adam Schiff and Representative Eric Swalwell of California,” Jeffries wrote in a Jan. 21 letter (pdf) to McCarthy.
“It is my understanding that you intend to break with the longstanding House tradition of deference to the minority party Intelligence Committee recommendations and deny seats to Ranking Member Schiff and Representative Swalwell,” he continued. “The denial of seats to duly elected Members of the House Democratic Caucus runs counter to the serious and sober mission of the Intelligence Committee.”
According to the rules (pdf) of the House of Representatives, the speaker “shall appoint all select, joint, and conference committees ordered by the House” and may remove and appoint additional members after an initial appointment. The House Intelligence Committee is a permanent select committee.
No more than 13 members on the panel can be of the same party, and while the rules do not require the speaker to defer to the minority leader’s nominees, traditionally, that has been the case.
Arguments Over Precedent
Since November, McCarthy has been outspoken about his intentions to remove Schiff and Swalwell from their committee assignments, holding that Schiff has “lied to the American public” and that Swalwell’s former association with a suspected Chinese spy makes him a security liability.
Both Democrats have responded to McCarthy’s comments on the matter with criticism, with Schiff holding that the Republican is a “very weak leader” of his conference and Swalwell accusing him of acting out of “political vengeance.”
McCarthy, however, has defended his position by citing the treatment of Republican members in the last Congress by former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democrats as precedent.
“The Democrats have created a new thing where they’re picking and choosing who can be on committees,” McCarthy told Breitbart News on Jan. 9. “Never in the history [of Congress] have you had the majority tell the minority who can be on committee. But this new standard, which these Democrats have voted for—if Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the private sector, there is no reason why he should be given one to be on Intel or Homeland Security. He will not be serving there.”
Jeffries, however, pushed back on that reasoning in his Saturday letter.
“In the 117th Congress, two Members were removed from their committee assignments after a bipartisan vote of the House found them unfit to serve on standing committees for directly inciting violence against their colleagues,” he wrote. “This action was taken by both Democrats and Republicans given the seriousness of the conduct involved, particularly in the aftermath of a violent insurrection and attack on the Capitol. It does not serve as precedent or justification for the removal of Representatives Schiff and Swalwell, given that they have never exhibited violent thoughts or behavior.”
In 2021, the House voted on separate occasions to strip Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) of their committee assignments over controversial social media posts they had made.
Greene’s comments, made prior to her becoming a U.S. representative, involved speculation that the 9/11 terror attacks were a false flag and the allegation that deadly school shootings had been staged. There were also reports that Greene had liked a Facebook comment that advocated for putting “a bullet to the head” of Pelosi. Prior to the House vote, Greene expressed regret over her “words of the past,” stating that they did not “represent” her.
Gosar, on the other hand, was censured by the House for sharing a video on Twitter in which one anime character—with his face superimposed over it—struck down another bearing the face of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Gosar removed the video prior to his censure and committee removal, stating that he did not “espouse violence towards anyone” and that the cartoon was meant to represent “the symbolic nature of a battle between lawful and unlawful policies.”
Also in 2021, Pelosi rejected McCarthy’s nominations of Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) for the Jan. 6 Committee, angering the then-minority leader to the point where he withdrew the rest of his nominees from consideration.
Jeffries did not address that dispute in his letter but added that he felt a double standard was at play given that Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.)—recently the subject of backlash for misrepresenting his education and work experience—has been assigned to two committees.
“The apparent double standard risks undermining the spirit of bipartisan cooperation that is so desperately needed in Congress,” Jeffries wrote.
In closing the letter, the minority leader urged McCarthy to honor “past practice of the House of Representatives and our mutual interest in working together for the good of the American people” by accepting his recommendation of Schiff and Swalwell to the House Intelligence Committee.
McCarthy’s office did not return The Epoch Times’ request for comment by press time.
“Intelligence Committee”??? Jeffries, are you kidding me??? I wouldn’t hire them as janitors.
“Schiff has “lied to the American public” and that Swalwell’s former association with a suspected Chinese spy makes him a security liability.”
Only a treasonous Democrat would want such disgraceful, lying, trash as Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) on a the House Intelligence Committee or in congress at all.
Tha swallowswell guy is one that cannot keep his zipper pulled up around the female china spies, we will never know how much info he turned over to them because of what he did. You can bet the swallowswell gave over a lot more than he claimed. That swallowswell is a traitor to this country and should never be trusted with anything ever again. As for that adam ****** he should be sent packing on a railroad trolly or put to sea as a person without a country for all the lies he posted about not o ly TRUMP but about the country in general.
Nominating these brain-challenged and morally challenged liberals make the words “Intelligence Committee” as about as Oxymoronically as the English language can get. Jeffries is guilty of murder of Intelligence itself and the usual beguiling use of word salads are the usual libtard weapon of choice. Of the top 10 American oxymorons in use today (Self-contradicting use of two words when combined reveal the opposite of meaning) when it comes to the leading Democrats like Jeffries;
Pretty Ugly, Bittersweet, Civil War, Random choice, open secret, grow smaller, random order, only choice, true fiction, virtual reality, deafening silence, perfect imperfections and walking brain dead come to mind,,,or “ We must believe in free will, we have no choice”,,” “I distinctly remember forgetting that.”,( Joe Biden),,, “A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”,( Democrat legislation),, “You’d be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap.”(Democrat National Budgets)
These Democrats are pure morons, who use only the language of the oxymoron. To fool THE PEOPLE is their only thought, and though they’re slippery they still get caught.,,,like shooting fish in a barrel.
That’s why he’s nominating them!!
Sorry, but Nancy Pelosi set the precident by excluding Republicans she disagreed with and using two RINOs instead!
But remember, when THEY DO something its good/right/ok.
IF the gop does the same thing, its evil/bad/wrong.
Which is it then? Nominate two eminently qualified legislators or the dregs of Congress Swalwell and ******? Kind of a contradictory statement by the new leader of The Mob.
It’s rich that now that they are in the minority the Dems want McCarthy to honor “past practices” that they themselves upended. Just like when they changed Judicial appointment rules to allow a simple majority which allowed Trump to appoint 3 Justices. You know the saying, “Live by the sword, die by the sword.” I just hope McCarthy doesn’t cave on this.
That’s unfortunately, been the left’s practice for a while.
DO WHAT EVER THE HELL THEY want, when they are in power..
BUT WHEN we are in power, DEMAND WE “hold to standard practices”…
More of the rules for thee, but not me, way of doing things.
So, House Minority Leader Rep. Jeffries has sold his soul to the monsters of the political left. He has acknowledged he’s willing to do anything to maintain the corruption that’s been proven to be serious ethical or criminal violations by the two people he nominated! This action by the minority Leader of the House Reps. proves the system is broken! The boldest level of political corruption ever seen by a minority leader!
Is Hakeem for real? This has to be the trio of total losers. What a waste of oxygen are all three.