On Sunday, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), expected to be the new speaker of the House, announced that he plans to remove Democrats Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff, both from California, from the House Intelligence Committee.
Swalwell, who allegedly engaged in a sexual relationship with accused Chinese spy Christine Fang, and Schiff, who pushed the thoroughly debunked “Steele Dossier” that featured so prominently in the investigation of former President Donald Trump, will likely be kicked off of the committee on January 3, when the GOP takes control of the House.
“One thing I said from the very beginning, Eric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector,” McCarthy told Fox News. “Why would we ever give him a security clearance and the secrets to America? So, I will not allow him to be on Intel.”
In March of last year, Democrats blocked a GOP attempt to have Swalwell removed from the Intel Committee because of his relationship with Fang, who many believe was targeting U.S. politicians for the Communist Chinese. Fang also may have had a hand in fundraising for the California Democrat, and is known to have placed at least one intern in Swalwell’s office.
At the time, McCarthy noted that Swalwell “has not denied public reporting that a suspected Chinese intelligence operative helped raise money for [his] political campaigns.”
He blasted Schiff as well: “You have Adam Schiff, who lied to the American public time and again — we will not allow him to be on the Intel Committee either.”
Schiff cited a coming GOP “chaos”: “[McCarthy] will adhere to the wishes of the lowest common denominator,” he said. “And if that lowest common denominator wants to remove people from committees, that’s what they’ll do. It’s going to be chaos with Republican leadership.”
McCarthy also promised to remove “Squad” member Ilhan Omar from her place on the House Foreign Affairs Committee due to repeated anti-Israel and anti-American statements.
“Look at Congresswoman Omar, her antisemitic comments that have gone forward. We’re not going to allow her to be on Foreign Affairs,” McCarthy said on Fox.
“Last year, I promised that when I became Speaker, I would remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on her repeated anti-semitic and anti-American remarks,” he tweeted on Saturday. “I’m keeping that promise.”
Representative Omar (D-Minn.) didn’t take kindly to McCarthy’s threat to remove her from the committee.
“From the moment I was elected, the Republican Party has made it their mission to use fear, xenophobia, Islamophobia and racism to target me on the House Floor and through millions of dollars of campaign ads,” she said in an angry statement.
“McCarthy’s effort to repeatedly single me out for scorn and hatred — including threatening to strip me from my committee — does nothing to address the issues our constituents deal with. It does nothing to address inflation, healthcare, or solve the climate crisis.”
Last February, the Democrat-controlled House took the step of removing Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from all of her committee assignments over her support of what Democrats called “far-right conspiracy theories.” Eleven Republicans joined the Democrats in expelling Greene from the committees.
McCarthy has said that he would restore Greene to her committee memberships once he takes the leadership reins.
McCarthy cannot unilaterally remove those Democrats from their committee slots, however, but would need a majority in the full House to do so. Should he move forward with his plan to strip Swalwell, Schiff, and Omar from their assignments, it will be an early test of his ability to keep Republicans together. McCarthy was challenged for leadership by Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). In the recent leadership election McCarthy received 188 votes to Biggs’ 31 in a secret ballot.
