In selecting Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) to chair the Home Intelligence Committee, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has tapped a veteran conservative with “America-First” leanings to steer probably the most highly effective panels heading into the second Trump administration.
Crawford, a 14-year veteran of Capitol Hill, voted final 12 months towards laws offering billions of {dollars} in assist to Ukraine, citing extra dire wants at house. The vote aligns him with Trump and his allies, who’ve sought to shift U.S. sources away from international entanglements and dedicate these energies as an alternative towards home financial issues.
Crawford additionally voted in 2021 to problem the presidential election ends in each Pennsylvania and Arizona, the place Trump was defeated however nonetheless claimed victory.
Each of these positions — Ukraine and the 2020 election — mark a pointy distinction to the observe report of Rep. Mike Turner, the Ohio Republican who chaired the Intelligence Committee within the final Congress however now finds himself with out a gavel.
Turner, now in his twenty third 12 months in Congress, matches the extra conventional mildew of Reagan-era conservatism, together with help for extending authorities surveillance powers, sustaining sturdy ties with NATO allies and serving to Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion. These positions have put him at odds with Trump’s “America First” agenda and made him a goal of a few of the incoming president’s MAGA followers.
Turner was additionally among the many minority of Home Republicans who voted to certify Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania and Arizona 4 years in the past.
Johnson, who has unilateral energy to nominate the Intel chair, has defended his determination to take away Turner’s gavel, rejecting the notion that it got here because of strain to appease the incoming president.
“This is not a Mar-a-Lago or a Trump decision, this is a Speaker’s decision,” Johnson instructed reporters Thursday within the Capitol.
“A lot of deliberative thought goes into these things,” he continued. “The Intel Committee is extremely important, especially at a time like this, and it’s time for a new start.”
Johnson has advised that his determination was motivated, not less than partly, by an episode final 12 months when Turner warned of a dire risk to U.S. safety — an incident that appeared to catch Johnson off guard.
“There’s been a lot of controversy, as everyone knows, about things related to the Intelligence Committee … and abuses and things and lots of allegations over the last few years,” Johnson stated. “We’ve got to clean all that up.”
However the removing of Turner has additionally sparked a backlash from Democrats — and not less than just a few Republicans — who’re accusing Johnson of bowing to Trump’s needs on the expense of nationwide safety. These voices have lengthy criticized Trump for being too cozy with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and noticed Turner as an ally within the effort to push again towards Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine and past.
“Mike Turner has robustly promoted the security of the American individuals and the Free World and his unjustified ouster is probably going being applauded by our adversaries in Russia and China,” Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stated Thursday in an announcement.
“Shameful.”
Crawford, who voted final April towards virtually $61 billion in assist to Ukraine, stated he supported Ukraine’s effort to expel Putin’s “invasion force,” however couldn’t endorse non-military assist to Kyiv “when Americans are struggling with rising costs at home.”
On different points associated to the Intel Committee, nevertheless, Crawford has sided with Turner, even when different Home conservatives had been calling for a unique method.
Crawford, as an illustration, has supported renewal of a controversial legislation empowering the federal government to surveil the communications of foreigners when they’re overseas. That legislation — Part 702 of the International Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) — has lengthy been criticized by conservatives on Capitol Hill who say it offers the federal government an excessive amount of energy to seize knowledge from U.S. residents.
A lot of these critics are members of the Home Freedom Caucus — and are amongst Trump’s staunchest supporters on Capitol Hill.
