After winning Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy made good on a promise he made before the start of his speakership: booting Democrats, especially California Democrats. This move comes in response to the removal of two House Republicans from their respective committees in 2021. With the majority, McCarthy has now reversed the tide by blocking two key Democrats, Swalwell and Schiff, from their position on the House Intelligence Committee. The justification for their removal? In a written explanation, McCarthy cited that the intelligence committee had been “misuse[d]” which had “severely undermined its primary national security and oversight missions — ultimately leaving our nation less safe.” As such, he explained, removing Schiff and Swalwell is necessary “to maintain a standard worthy of this committee’s responsibilities.”
This action was met with swift criticism from the Democrats, with Schiff himself saying, "This is, I think, not an unexpected but nonetheless, destructive move by Kevin McCarthy.” Much frustration over the decision has stemmed from Schiff and Swalwell’s past work on the intelligence panel, namely on the investigation and impeachment of former president Donald Trump. In the past, the precedent has been for House speakers to adhere to the recommendations of the minority party leader for appointments to this panel. However, as Speaker, McCarthy reserves the power to make the appointment himself without a vote on the house floor.
However, McCarthy’s decision is not without context. Despite criticism of the apparent targeting suggested by the selection. McCarthy explained that the decision was also based on Schiff and Swalwell’s past conduct: social media remarks on Trump and Russia, and reported interactions with a Chinese spy respectively. McCarthy likely provided this evidence to match similarly cited reasoning used to remove committee seats from Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar due to their inflammatory and violent social media activity against the opposing party.
With tensions rising, McCarthy’s actions mark a starkly divided Congress. Whether acts of “political vengeance” or removals in the honest interest of Congress. McCarthy’s action with Schiff and Swalwell, as well as his promises to push more Democrats off of committees using the majority Republicans now hold in Congress, have raised even more adamant disapproval and frustration from the Democrats. Although McCarthy’s power to directly punish or block Democrats or certain legislators from committee positions is generally limited by full floor House votes, his control over the intelligence panel and political goals set a shaky tone for bipartisan cooperation in this new Congress.
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/25/house-republicans-mccarthy-committees-debt-limit/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/24/us/politics/mccarthy-schiff-swalwell-committee.html
1 comment:
Reading this in the context of additional news that Rep. Ilhan Omar was ousted from the foreign affairs committee over remarks that, in my opinion, were far less offensive than similar comments made by oodles of members of the Republican Party, is definitely interesting. I think that, given McCarthy's actions both prior to and during his time as Speaker, we can expect bipartisan cooperation to be a thing of the past. There's a video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responding to Omar's removal from her committee, and the emotion and passion felt both by AOC and visible Democratic members of the House in the background convey what can't be said on the House floor. I think they're done negotiating, and it's going to be a difficult, bitter battle to get much of anything done in this House.
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