House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has officially denied seats on the House Intelligence Committee to Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff, the former chairman of the panel.
The move comes as the new Republican majority is outlining its plans and priorities for the session, which include a focus on oversight and investigations of President Biden’s administration.
McCarthy rejected a request from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to keep Schiff and Swalwell on the committee. Both members previously served on the panel — with Schiff serving as chair from 2019 to 2022 — and both were involved in the investigations and impeachments of former President Donald Trump.
Under new Republican leadership, the House Intelligence Committee is expected to investigate the classified documents found in Biden’s Delaware home and Washington, D.C., office, alleged collusion between the FBI and social media companies, the origins of COVID-19 and other politically contentious issues.
Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell accused House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of “political vengeance” for blocking the California Democrats from serving on the House Intelligence Committee.
“This is, I think, not an unexpected but nonetheless, destructive move by Kevin McCarthy,” Schiff said during a press conference Wednesday morning.
“His objection seems to be that I was the lead impeachment manager in Donald Trump’s first impeachment, and that we held him accountable for withholding hundreds of millions of dollars of military aid from Ukraine,” Schiff said. “So he is now, I think, carrying the dirty water for the former president in trying to remove me from the intel committee.”
McCarthy is also considering a vote to block Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from sitting on the Foreign Affairs Committee over her comments on Israel, which drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.