Democrats removed from House panels slam McCarthy for ‘political revenge’
The trio of House Democrats – Representatives Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar – launched from a pair of high-level committees by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have denounced the Republican leader’s actions as ‘political revenge’ .
“It is disappointing but not surprising that Kevin McCarthy has capitulated to the right wing of his caucus, undermining the integrity of Congress and undermining our national security in the process,” Schiff, Swalwell and Omar said in a joint statement. .
“He made a corrupt deal in his desperate and nearly failed bid to win the presidency, a deal that required political revenge against the three of us,” the three said, referring to the tense negotiations that led to McCarthy being elected president. on the 15th ballot earlier this month.
McCarthy (R-California) officially announced late Tuesday that Schiff and Swalwell, both of California, would not serve on the House Intelligence Committee, rejecting Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ appeal over the weekend to reappoint them to the top panel.
Omar, from Minnesota, had been a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
McCarthy, who has repeatedly promised to remove the trio from their respective panels, wrote in his letter to Jeffries that he “cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply acknowledge the years of service as the only criterion for joining this indispensable committee. Integrity counts more.
The speaker went on to say that he has pledged in the new GOP-led Congress “to return the intelligence committee to a committee of genuine honesty and credibility that earns back the trust of the American people.”
McCarthy has long criticized Schiff, the former chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the first impeachment against former President Donald Trump, for lying to the “American public again and again.”
Schiff on Twitter said removing him from the committee was a “little political read” for investigating Trump.
“If he thinks this is going to stop me, he’ll soon find out how wrong he is,” he said in the article. “I will always defend our democracy.”
In March 2021, McCarthy introduced a resolution in Congress to remove Swalwell from the Intelligence Committee due to his ties to alleged Chinese spy Christina Fang.
The resolution was defeated by the then Democratic-led House.
Fang has bonded with a number of elected officials across the country, including Swalwell, in her efforts to infiltrate the American political system.
Swalwell has never been charged with wrongdoing.
McCarthy blasted Omar, a member of the so-called “Squad” with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for making anti-Semitic and anti-American comments.
Notably, Omar compared the United States and Israel to terrorist organizations like Hamas and the Taliban and suggested that US lawmakers who support the Jewish state are on the payroll of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.