Axios: Johnson Faces Uproar Over Intel Panel Picks

June 15, 2024 Republicans, Trump cultists

Axios reports:

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

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.

Politico reports:



Many Republicans, including those on the Intelligence panel, had viewed Perry as ineligible before Johnson’s announcement in light of his polarizing history. But when the speaker blindsided the panel’s chair and GOP members with the appointment, shock quickly gave way to rage.

“It upends the meritocracy that has long been the defining practice on Intel,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said in an interview.

He followed with a warning other Republicans have echoed more privately: that rewarding behavior like Perry’s will only encourage more antics among hardliners, like tanking procedural votes, blocking bills or even future moves to oust a speaker.

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