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Johnson faces bipartisan uproar over House Intel picks

Washington, May 15, 2024

Originally published in Axios.
Written by Andrew Solender and Juliegrace Brufke.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has roiled lawmakers in both parties by appointing a pair of hardline conservatives to the House Intelligence Committee.

Why it matters: Committee members fear the presence of Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) threatens to disrupt a hard-fought bipartisan consensus forged in the aftermath of the Trump era.

  • Some are also concerned about the highly sensitive information to which committee members are often exposed.

Driving the news: Johnson tapped Perry and Jackson to replace former Reps. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), both of whom resigned midway through their terms.

  • The picks were bound to be inflammatory: Perry's phone was seized by the FBI as part of its Jan. 6 probe, while Jackson has faced allegations of drinking on duty and harassing staff when he was the White House physician.
  • Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), a Democratic member of the panel, sent Johnson a letter earlier this week urging him to reverse the appointments.

What we're hearing: One House Democrat said panel members were "shocked at first, and [now] some people are angry," calling the appointments "reckless."

  • "Everybody is concerned," the lawmaker added.
  • One Republican member said of Perry, who has been a thorn in the side of GOP leadership: "Part of the problem is it is rewarding bad behavior."
  • Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said Johnson should "keep a close eye and make sure that people are respecting the seriousness of the committee."

Zoom in: Perry is seen by Republicans as the real concern, with some Democrats lumping the two together and others drawing a distinction.

  • Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) said he will give Jackson "the benefit of the doubt, because I know him very well," but has "some concerns" about Perry.

The other side: "Speaker Johnson has the utmost confidence in Congressmen Perry and Jackson to capably serve the American people on the Intelligence Committee," Johnson spokesman Tylor Haulsee told Axios.

  • "My 44 years of national security experience and service to our Nation speaks for itself," Perry said in a statement to Axios.
  • A spokesperson for Jackson did not provide comment.

Between the lines: The committee is charged with oversight of the intelligence community, and thus has access to highly classified information often not provided to other rank-and-file members of Congress.

  • It is also a select committee, allowing Johnson to make the appointments unilaterally without sign-off from the GOP's steering committee.
  • Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) was not looped in on the picks, according to Punchbowl News, nor was Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a source familiar with the matter told Axios.

Zoom out: Turner and Himes have worked to salvage the Intelligence Committee's longstanding reputation as a haven from Congress' usual divisiveness.

  • That distinction was blurred after Trump-era scandals drew the committee into repeated and public partisan warfare.
  • "The chairman and I have worked really, really hard to rebuild the committee into something non-partisan, and so this was obviously a concerning development," Himes told Axios.

The latest: A group of Republican members of the Intelligence Committee met with Johnson in his office on Wednesday evening to voice their concerns.

  • Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) told Axios on Friday that he has "said what I needed to say on that. We've all had it out and kind of had a good talk."
  • Crenshaw said his "main concern" is maintaining "trust" between the committee's members and the intelligence agencies.

The intrigue: Some Democrats are stopping short of joining Houlahan's call for Johnson to pull Perry and Jackson off the committee.

  • Himes said he is an "optimist" and has "an obligation to assume we can keep the committee on an even keel, so I'm going to give these guys a chance."
  • "I welcome them onto the committee," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.). "The Intelligence Committee, in my experience, has been one of the most bipartisan... and I think we want to maintain that approach."