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WASHINGTON – GOP Chairman Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he would not put California Representatives Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff on the House Intelligence Committee, keeping a promise he made to conservatives. on the campaign trail.
“I will put national security ahead of party politics,” he told a news conference.
McCarthy said Swalwell probably reportedly denied a security clearance in the private sector and accused Schiff of lying to the public, claiming they are unfit to serve on the committee that handles classified information.
Democrats say it’s political revenge. Both California Democrats served on the panel in the last Congress and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., asked that they be reappointed. Unlike most standing committees, the speaker chooses who serves on the Select Intelligence Committee.
McCarthy said he is not political and that Schiff and Swalwell could sit on other committees, but not on Intelligence.
Why isn’t McCarthy accommodating Schiff and Swalwell?
Before he was elected president, McCarthy said he would not put Schiff on the intelligence committee, claiming he lied to Americans as chairman of the panel that led to the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump in 2019.
McCarthy said he would not accept Swalwell because of the congressman’s past ties to an alleged Chinese spy.
In 2021, McCarthy first called for Swalwell’s removal from the committee, but the Democratic-led House rejected the move largely along party lines.
Why Democrats Say McCarthy’s Move With Schiff and Swalwell Is Payback
In a letter on Saturday, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said McCarthy whatever the denial of seats “contradicts the serious and sober mission of the Intelligence Committee.
He also compared the removal of Schiff and Swalwell to the removal of Republican Representatives Paul Gosar of Arizona and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia in the last Congress.
The Democrat-led House, with the help of some Republicans, voted to remove Gosar and Greene from committees in the last session.
Restored Republicans:Greene and Gosar reinstated on committees by GOP-led House after Democrats removed them
Comparison with Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar
Gosar was censored and removed from committees in November 2021 after posting an animated video that depicted violence against Biden and the murder of Progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He was stripped of his seats on the Natural Resources and Oversight and Reform committees.
Greene was removed in February 2021 for a series of inflammatory social media posts. She had embraced the QAnon conspiracy theories and made previous comments that the September 11, 2001 attacks did not happen. She was stripped of seats on the Budget Committee as well as the Education and Labor panel.
Both Greene and Gosar were reinstated in committees in the new Republican-led House.
Jeffries argued in his letter to McCarthy that “a bipartisan House vote found them unfit to serve on standing committees for directly inciting violence against their colleagues”.
Schiff and Swalwell, on the other hand, “never exhibited violent thoughts or behavior.”
What McCarthy Said to Jeffries in a Letter
McCarthy formally responded to Jeffries in a letter on Tuesday nighttelling him that “integrity is more important” than seniority on the committee and that he is rejecting Schiff and Swalwell.
“In my assessment, the misuse of this panel during the 116th and 117th Congresses seriously undermined its primary mission of national security and oversight – leaving our nation less secure,” he said. McCarthy said in the letter.
He said he was committed to returning the committee “to one of genuine honesty and credibility that will regain the trust of the American people.”
In a response issued on Tuesday, Schiff said McCarthy kicked out the committee because “I fought him and Donald Trump when they tried to overthrow our democracy. If he thinks that’s going to stop me, he’ll soon find out otherwise.”
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Candy Woodall is a congressional reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at cwoodall@usatoday.com or on Twitter at @candynotcandace.
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