WASHINGTON — As members of the new Congress received their committee assignments this week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made it clear that Democratic representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) will not sit on the House Intelligence committee.
The two men had been mainstays on the committee in the previous Congress. Schiff was chairman of the committee.
In what many are describing as a move of “political vengeance”, McCarthy said in a press conference this week that he was citing a “new standard” set by Democrats when it came to ousting certain Republicans from committees while they had control of the chamber.
“I understand there is a lot of frustration,” said Indiana Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-IN-5th) on CNN. “What Speaker Pelosi had done was unprecedented in the last Congress. But, I think we have to respect the rule of law and proper due process.”
In the previous Congress, some Republicans were kicked off committees by Democrats over what they determined to be hateful and inflammatory rhetoric. This is the standard that McCarthy is citing in denying Schiff and Swalwell seats on the Intelligence Committee.
Spartz believes both men have a right to state their case as to why they should sit on the committee.
“We are not going to be tit for tat and mob rule,” Spartz said. “If that’s what the other side had done, then we’d also be hypocrites. It’s sad for me to see we are doing it and it makes us (Republicans) look like hypocrites.”
Schiff had led the charge in impeaching President Trump while he led the House Intelligence Committee. Swalwell is seen as a liability by Republicans like McCarthy given his affair with a woman who was said to be a Chinese spy.
