Two far-right Republicans have been appointed to the highly sensitive House of Representatives’ intelligence committee at the direction of Donald Trump, a move likely to antagonise the security establishment.
Representatives Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Ronny Jackson of Texas, known for their fierce loyalty to Trump and vocal support of his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, were installed by the House speaker, Mike Johnson, ahead of other qualified GOP members and apparently without consulting the body’s chair, Mike Turner.
Turner has sought to restore the committee’s bipartisan character following years of bitter party infighting between Republicans and Democrats.
The appointments of Perry and Jackson to a committee that helps to shape US foreign policy and oversees intelligence agencies such as the FBI and the CIA has caused consternation on Capitol Hill. It also signals Trump’s hostility to organisations that he has vowed to purge if he is re-elected.
Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman who served on the House select committee that investigated the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, called the move “insane” on a social media post.
The pair were appointed to slots opened up by the resignations from Congress of Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Chris Stewart of Utah.
Perry, a former chairman of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, was at the forefront of Trump’s efforts to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. His endeavours led to his phone being confiscated by the FBI, an organisation he will now have a role in scrutinising.
“I look forward to providing not only a fresh perspective, but conducting actual oversight – not blind obedience to some facets of our Intel Community that all too often abuse their powers, resources, and authority to spy on the American people,” Perry wrote in a pointed statement posted on X.
Last December, a federal judge ordered him to hand over 1,600 text messages and emails to the FBI concerning his efforts to keep Trump in office after his election defeat.
Jackson, a former White House physician to both Trump and Barack Obama, came to public notice in 2018 when the then Republican president tried to appoint him as secretary of veterans affairs.
He withdrew his nomination after allegations of professional misconduct emerged, including accusations of drinking on the job and inappropriate behaviour towards female colleagues. It was also said that he took the prescription-strength sedative, Ambien, while on duty.
Jackson denied the allegations and said they were politically motivated. But they were upheld by a scathing Pentagon inspector general’s report that said Jackson “disparaged, belittled, bullied and humiliated” subordinates. The report resulted in his demotion from the rank of rear-admiral to captain by the US navy, in which he served.
While serving as Trump’s White House doctor, he was renowned for his extravagant claims about his patient’s supposedly robust health.
A spokesman for Johnson said the speaker “has the utmost confidence in Congressmen Perry and Jackson to capably serve the American people on the intelligence committee”.
However, the appointments recall the committee’s stewardship under Devin Nunes, a Trump acolyte who helped to turn into a partisan battleground as he used his position to combat allegations that the former president had won the 2016 presidential election with the help of Russian interference.
Nunes was rewarded for his efforts by being given a Medal of Freedom by Trump and is now chief executive of the ex-president’s social media company, Truth Social.
Talking to AP, Ira Goldman – a former Republican congressional aide and counsel to the committee in the 1970s and 1980s – accused Johnson of “giving members seats on the committee when, based on the public record, they couldn’t get a security clearance if they came through any other door”.
