House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is considering changing the lineup of the House Intelligence Committee to include some of President Trump's most vocal defenders in Congress.
"If Democrats are going to turn Intel into the impeachment committee, I am going to make adjustments to that committee accordingly, for a short period of time," McCarthy told Politico on Tuesday. A spokesman for McCarthy confirmed his comments to NPR.
At the top of the list for possible temporary appointments are Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina. The two lawmakers sit on the House Oversight Committee, which is taking part in the closed-door deposition phase of the investigation, but neither lawmaker sits on the House Intelligence Committee, which will lead upcoming public impeachment hearings.
A GOP aide confirmed that Jordan and Meadows are "top choices" for temporary slots.
Long before the impeachment inquiry, Jordan and Meadows carved out reputations as two of Trump's best allies and defenders in Congress. Most recently, they have been fixtures at the depositions, regularly attending the sessions even when the House is not in session, and aggressively defending Trump in the media. Meadows traveled to New York City with the president over the weekend to attend the Ultimate Fighting Championship at Madison Square Garden as his guest.
Allies of the two lawmakers cheered the idea on Twitter. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., praised them as the GOP's "most effective questioners" and said they have attended more deposition testimony than Republican members of the Intelligence Committee. "Shame on us for failing" Trump if they're not appointed, he tweeted. Gaetz also supports adding Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., to the panel.
.@GOPLeader has full discretion to put our most effective questioners on intel for this matter.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 5, 2019
If @Jim_Jordan @RepMarkMeadows & @RepLeeZeldin aren’t moved on in favor of Republicans who have skipped a majority of the testimony, then shame on us for failing @realDonaldTrump. https://t.co/yp4nQoMhdv
McCarthy has almost sole discretion over which GOP members sit on the Intelligence Committee, although any decision to change the committee lineup would need to be ratified by the House Republican Conference. Any shake-up would likely be supported by the White House, effectively minimizing opposition to the decision.
However, it is fraught with internal politics. To add new Republicans to the Intelligence Committee, other Republicans would have to step aside. It is unclear how a potential shake-up would affect the current top Republican on the committee, Rep. Devin Nunes of California. A spokesman for Nunes did not respond to NPR's request for comment.
Committee ratios — the number of Democrats and Republicans on each House panel — are set by the majority, and Democrats are unlikely to give McCarthy a reprieve to this end. Currently, Democrats have 13 seats on the committee and Republicans have nine seats, so any new members added would require other Republicans to temporarily step aside to make room for them.
The House is in recess this week, but any changes to the Intelligence Committee could take effect as early as next week when members return.
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