By The FirstSpeaker of the House Kevin McCarthy sent a succinct letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries this week after the top Democrat asked for Congressmen Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to be added to the House Intelligence Committee.
“I have rejected the appointments of Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell for the House Intelligence Committee,” posted McCarthy on social media.
Read the full letter below:
Dear Leader Jeffries:
Thank you for your letter dated January 21, 2023 regarding Representatives Schiff and Swalwell.
I appreciate the loyalty you have to your Democrat colleagues, and I acknowledge your efforts to have two Members of Congress reinstated to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. But I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee. Integrity matters more.
As such, in order to maintain a standard worthy of this committee’s responsibilities, I am hereby rejecting the appointments of Representative Adam Schiff and Representative Eric Swalwell to serve on the Intelligence Committee.
It is my assessment that the misuse of this panel during the 116th and 117th Congresses severely undermined its primary national security and oversight missions ultimately leaving our nation less safe. Therefore, as we enter a new Congress, I am committed to returning the Intelligence Committee to one of genuine honesty and credibility thy at regains the trust of the American people.
