The quiet announcement that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) earlier this month tapped two controversial members to serve on the House Intelligence Committee set off alarms among some House Republicans. Lawmakers’ phones were suddenly buzzing with texts from shocked colleagues and calls were made to the highest echelons of leadership asking for an explanation.
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One call Johnson received was from former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who felt it imperative to understand the new speaker’s rationale for appointing Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) to the critical panel, according to two people familiar with the conversation, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The appointment of Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) to Intelligence also drew unease from some House Republicans, but not as much as Perry, because he is not a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus and does not often buck GOP leadership.
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The moves were especially surprising because McCarthy had worked in tandem with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and top leaders of the Intelligence Committee — Chairman Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio) and ranking Democrat Jim Himes (Conn.) — to depoliticize the panel after members of both parties contributed to increased partisanship over the years.
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In calls with McCarthy and other Republicans last week, Johnson justified his decision by saying he appointed Perry and Jackson partly because former president Donald Trump urged him to do so, according to two other people with direct knowledge of the matter. Trump repeatedly and unusually vilified the intelligence community as president, insisting that it had unfairly targeted him during the 2016 campaign, most recently describing the Justice Department at last week’s gathering with House Republicans as “dirty, no-good bastards.”
“[Johnson] has reversed course on this committee, and has now made it political again. He has reversed all the advances, which could harm America’s preparedness,” one high-ranking Republican said. “This is not a place to play games. This is not a place to appease somebody. This is where you got to do the real work.”
Johnson briefly explained his decision, telling The Washington Post that it is “important to have a broad spectrum of perspectives on that committee” and that he believes both members are “going to do a good job.”
The appointments came before Trump rallied House Republicans on Capitol Hill last week to unite lawmakers behind a political and policy message aimed at establishing a GOP lock on Washington in the November elections. The move demonstrates that Trump’s influence with the House Republican leadership is already being felt in ways that could embolden the far-right to make demands of the speaker, especially as Johnson tries to shore up his support to continue leading the fractious House GOP.
Johnson and Trump are relatively close. The former president has praised the speaker in the last several months and tried to stop hard-liners from ousting him. After Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a crime last month, Johnson said the House would ramp up its oversight of the Justice Department.
“I think we’re letting the executive branch, in this case, compel the speaker of the House and legislative branch to fill two critical spots that we have, frankly, more qualified people for,” one House Republican on the intelligence panel said.
The Intelligence Committee regularly receives highly classified briefings on sensitive national security matters affecting the country. Johnson has said his perspective changed on sending more aid to Ukraine after receiving the highest level of intelligence briefings as speaker, and he has often encouraged skeptical Republicans to do the same. Turner and Himes urged Johnson to pass more aid to Ukraine in April after a classified committee briefing on the war.
“I think we’ve seen decade after decade, even with presidential candidates, once you get down in the [sensitive compartmented information facility] and you read the volume and the seriousness of the threats that face this country, and the ill intent that our adversaries truly have for us and our way of life, it’s often a game-changing experience. So no concerns here,” said Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a member of the committee.
Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a conservative who says he respects the House as an institution, brought up his worries with Johnson and said the speaker now “knows how I feel” about the decision. After hearing that Rep. David Joyce also had reservations, Johnson tried to assuage the moderate Ohio Republican by telling him that multiple perspectives are necessary on committees and that the former president wanted those lawmakers to be heard.
Joyce wasn’t convinced. “You appease those people, what gives everybody else the reason to do the right thing by encouraging bad behavior?” he said.
Not even Turner knew of Johnson’s decision before the news broke in the media. Republicans on the Intelligence Committee took an extra step, requesting a sit-down meeting with Johnson to voice concerns over how Jackson and Perry could harm efforts to make the committee less partisan. Tensions appear to have cooled since the meeting, according to multiple people in attendance, with Republicans on the committee hoping the seriousness of the job will change new members’ perspectives.
“We have six months left until the end of the year, and then we’ll see what the committee looks like in January,” said Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), another member of the panel. “Both of those members are qualified to be on the Intelligence Committee.”
While the speaker has the ultimate say over who gets appointed to a special or select committee, a decision is often made in consultation with the chairman or ranking minority-party member. Members are assigned to permanent committees based on each party’s steering committee, often filled with allies of leadership.
Reps. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) and Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) are said to have sought an appointment to the committee after GOP Reps. Chris Stewart (Utah) and Mike Gallagher (Wis.) retired.
Perry, a former chairman of the Freedom Caucus and a chief Trump loyalist, has drawn the most fire from colleagues for his appointment. He was one of about 20 House Republicans who last year refused to support McCarthy for speaker in an effort to extract concessions from him. Some of those demands included putting more hard-liners on Intelligence and removing Turner as chair, which McCarthy avoided as he sought to appoint serious legislators to the panel, according to two people familiar with his thinking. He has voted against rules on the House floor several times since Johnson became speaker.
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One call Johnson received was from former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who felt it imperative to understand the new speaker’s rationale for appointing Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) to the critical panel, according to two people familiar with the conversation, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The appointment of Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Tex.) to Intelligence also drew unease from some House Republicans, but not as much as Perry, because he is not a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus and does not often buck GOP leadership.
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The moves were especially surprising because McCarthy had worked in tandem with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and top leaders of the Intelligence Committee — Chairman Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio) and ranking Democrat Jim Himes (Conn.) — to depoliticize the panel after members of both parties contributed to increased partisanship over the years.
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In calls with McCarthy and other Republicans last week, Johnson justified his decision by saying he appointed Perry and Jackson partly because former president Donald Trump urged him to do so, according to two other people with direct knowledge of the matter. Trump repeatedly and unusually vilified the intelligence community as president, insisting that it had unfairly targeted him during the 2016 campaign, most recently describing the Justice Department at last week’s gathering with House Republicans as “dirty, no-good bastards.”
“[Johnson] has reversed course on this committee, and has now made it political again. He has reversed all the advances, which could harm America’s preparedness,” one high-ranking Republican said. “This is not a place to play games. This is not a place to appease somebody. This is where you got to do the real work.”
Johnson briefly explained his decision, telling The Washington Post that it is “important to have a broad spectrum of perspectives on that committee” and that he believes both members are “going to do a good job.”
The appointments came before Trump rallied House Republicans on Capitol Hill last week to unite lawmakers behind a political and policy message aimed at establishing a GOP lock on Washington in the November elections. The move demonstrates that Trump’s influence with the House Republican leadership is already being felt in ways that could embolden the far-right to make demands of the speaker, especially as Johnson tries to shore up his support to continue leading the fractious House GOP.
Johnson and Trump are relatively close. The former president has praised the speaker in the last several months and tried to stop hard-liners from ousting him. After Trump became the first former president to be convicted of a crime last month, Johnson said the House would ramp up its oversight of the Justice Department.
“I think we’re letting the executive branch, in this case, compel the speaker of the House and legislative branch to fill two critical spots that we have, frankly, more qualified people for,” one House Republican on the intelligence panel said.
The Intelligence Committee regularly receives highly classified briefings on sensitive national security matters affecting the country. Johnson has said his perspective changed on sending more aid to Ukraine after receiving the highest level of intelligence briefings as speaker, and he has often encouraged skeptical Republicans to do the same. Turner and Himes urged Johnson to pass more aid to Ukraine in April after a classified committee briefing on the war.
“I think we’ve seen decade after decade, even with presidential candidates, once you get down in the [sensitive compartmented information facility] and you read the volume and the seriousness of the threats that face this country, and the ill intent that our adversaries truly have for us and our way of life, it’s often a game-changing experience. So no concerns here,” said Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a member of the committee.
Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a conservative who says he respects the House as an institution, brought up his worries with Johnson and said the speaker now “knows how I feel” about the decision. After hearing that Rep. David Joyce also had reservations, Johnson tried to assuage the moderate Ohio Republican by telling him that multiple perspectives are necessary on committees and that the former president wanted those lawmakers to be heard.
Joyce wasn’t convinced. “You appease those people, what gives everybody else the reason to do the right thing by encouraging bad behavior?” he said.
Not even Turner knew of Johnson’s decision before the news broke in the media. Republicans on the Intelligence Committee took an extra step, requesting a sit-down meeting with Johnson to voice concerns over how Jackson and Perry could harm efforts to make the committee less partisan. Tensions appear to have cooled since the meeting, according to multiple people in attendance, with Republicans on the committee hoping the seriousness of the job will change new members’ perspectives.
“We have six months left until the end of the year, and then we’ll see what the committee looks like in January,” said Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), another member of the panel. “Both of those members are qualified to be on the Intelligence Committee.”
While the speaker has the ultimate say over who gets appointed to a special or select committee, a decision is often made in consultation with the chairman or ranking minority-party member. Members are assigned to permanent committees based on each party’s steering committee, often filled with allies of leadership.
Reps. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) and Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) are said to have sought an appointment to the committee after GOP Reps. Chris Stewart (Utah) and Mike Gallagher (Wis.) retired.
Perry, a former chairman of the Freedom Caucus and a chief Trump loyalist, has drawn the most fire from colleagues for his appointment. He was one of about 20 House Republicans who last year refused to support McCarthy for speaker in an effort to extract concessions from him. Some of those demands included putting more hard-liners on Intelligence and removing Turner as chair, which McCarthy avoided as he sought to appoint serious legislators to the panel, according to two people familiar with his thinking. He has voted against rules on the House floor several times since Johnson became speaker.
