CNN
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Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday formally denied Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell seats on the Home Intelligence Committee.
“I recognize the loyalty you need to your Democrat colleagues, and I acknowledge your efforts to have two Members of Congress reinstated to the Home Everlasting Choose Committee on Intelligence,” McCarthy wrote in a letter to Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries that he posted on Twitter Tuesday evening.
“However I can not put partisan loyalty forward of nationwide safety, and I can not merely acknowledge years of service as the only standards for membership on this important committee. Integrity issues extra.”
McCarthy has cited a “new normal” from Democrats for why he would strip Schiff and Swalwell, each of California, of their committee assignments, after the Democrat-led Home in 2021 eliminated GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona from their committees for inflammatory rhetoric and posts.
Within the letter, McCarthy added that “It’s my evaluation that the misuse of this panel throughout the 116th and 117th Congresses severely undermined its major nationwide safety and oversight missions – finally leaving our nation much less protected,” and that he needs the panel to be one in every of “real honesty and credibility that regains the belief of the American folks.”
After the speaker recommitted earlier Tuesday to kicking him off the Intelligence Committee, Swalwell known as it “political vengeance.”
“It’s political vengeance, it’s too unhealthy as a result of that committee has all the time been a bipartisan committee, and he’s taking probably the most treasured items of glassware within the congressional cupboard and smashing it, and the injury goes to be irreparable,” Swalwell mentioned, including that “if a Democrat advocated for violence towards one other member of Congress, I’d help eliminating them.”
Schiff instructed reporters that “if McCarthy thinks that is going to cease me from vigorously pushing again towards his efforts to tear down these establishments, he’s going to search out out simply how fallacious he’s.”
“I believe this can be a horrible transfer on his half and as soon as once more, displaying McCarthy simply catering to essentially the most excessive parts of this convention,” he added
McCarthy on Tuesday additionally introduced the listing of GOP members he’s appointing to serve on the choose subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal authorities, with Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan to function its chair.
GOP Reps. Dan Bishop of North Carolina and Chip Roy of Texas who had been a part of the preliminary holdouts towards McCarthy within the speakership race additionally gained spots on the panel. Democrats may have the chance to nominate members as effectively.
The Home speaker additionally introduced appointments to the choose subcommittee on the Coronavirus pandemic, with Greene among the many members chosen.
McCarthy expanded each of the choose committees, naming extra folks to the rosters than initially anticipated resulting from “overwhelming curiosity” from members, in keeping with a GOP supply acquainted. Home Republicans, the supply added, must put ahead a ground decision to formally amend the ratios, however doesn’t anticipate it is going to be a problem.
