A former White House doctor accused of sexually harassing women and a lawmaker accused of plotting an attempt to overthrow millions of Americans’ votes are the newest members of a key congressional committee that oversees national intelligence information.
Now, Democratic and Republican lawmakers are bracing for the worst after House Speaker Mike Johnson tapped two hard-right GOP members for the influential House Intelligence Committee.
The appointments of Reps. Scott Perry and Ronny Jackson – both allies of Donald Trump who face their own legal and ethics probes – have roiled members of both parties and reportedly surprised both the committee’s top Democrat as well as the committee’s Republican chair.
GOP lawmakers spoke out anonymously and candidly over the last several days, warning that their scandals and alleged corruption threaten to derail key work of the committee while hanging by a thread to preserve their party majority.
“Just do not teach the lesson that the only way for us to be effective here is threatening, because I’ll take the lesson and I’ll do it,” Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw told Politico.
“This is not a place to play games,” another GOP lawmaker told The Washington Post. “This is not a place to appease somebody. This is where you got to do the real work.”
Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a member of the panel, wrote to Johnson herself, pleading with the House Speaker to get both men off the committee.
“There are literally hundreds of duly elected and upstanding members of Congress on both sides of the aisle who understand the gravity of their responsibilities of oversight,” she wrote.
Perry played a central role in the former president’s alleged criminal efforts to stay in power – he reportedly attended a White House meeting about rejecting election results in the days before January 6, 2021, and he allegedly sought a presidential pardon before Trump left office.
During her testimony to the House select committee investigating January 6, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified Trump talked with Perry about going to the Capitol that day, while a Trump-fueled mob broke into the halls of Congress.
Perry’s phones were also seized by the FBI as part of an investigation into the Capitol attack. He will now be on a panel with oversight of federal law enforcement, while he’s in the middle of a lawsuit with the Department of Justice about his phones.
Jackson, the former president’s physician and a right-wing media mouthpiece, was demoted by the Navy in 2022 following an inspector general’s report from the Pentagon that found he bullied staff and sexually harassed women.
He also was accused of abusing alcohol and sleeping pills while serving as Trump’s doctor, while the White House was allegedly “awash in speed.”
Last year, Jackson was captured on camera unloading profanities on a Department of Public Safety officer when he was detained.
He is also in the running for Health Secretary, if Trump is elected.
Both men have defended their appointments. Perry said he looks forward to offering up a “fresh perspective” as opposed to what he called “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.”
Jackson said he hopes “to restore the American people’s complete faith in our intelligence community.”
House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Turner told CBS News on Sunday that he’s “aware” of the reports about Jackson but the allegations are “unrelated to the handling of classified information.”
Perry and Jackson have “have had access to classified information before and there’s been no reports of any incidences of their mishandling of classified information,” Turner added.
Trump’s MAGA allies in Congress are seeking greater influence on committees, which help steer legislation but act as a televised sounding board for their grievances.
Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana – who like Perry is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus – also reportedly rankled other House Republicans after his appointment to the House Armed Services Committee.
