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 one of the vital highly effective panels heading into the second Trump administration.
Crawford, a 14-year veteran of Capitol Hill, voted final 12 months in opposition to laws offering billions of {dollars} in support to Ukraine, citing extra dire wants at house. The vote aligns him with President-elect Trump and his allies, who’ve sought to shift U.S. sources away from overseas 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 monitor document of Rep. Mike Turner, the Ohio Republican who chaired the Intelligence Committee within the final Congress however now finds himself and not using a gavel.
Turner, now in his twenty third 12 months in Congress, suits the extra conventional mould of Reagan-era conservatism, together with help for extending authorities surveillance powers, sustaining robust 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 number 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.
Crawford has largely flown underneath the radar throughout his seven phrases within the Home, however he now finds himself on the helm of a committee that shall be on the forefront of efforts to defend the nation in opposition to threats, overseas and home, in an age of cyber assaults, hacks, misinformation and synthetic intelligence applied sciences which are more and more troublesome to fend in opposition to.
Johnson, who has unilateral energy to nominate the Intel chair, has defended his resolution to take away Turner’s gavel and appoint Crawford, rejecting the notion that it got here on account 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 informed 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 instructed that his resolution was motivated, no less than partially, 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 mentioned. “We’ve got to clean all that up.”
However the removing of Turner has additionally sparked a backlash from Democrats — and no less than a number of 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 in opposition to Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine and past.
“Mike Turner has robustly promoted the protection 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.) mentioned Thursday in a press release.
“Shameful.”
Crawford, who voted final April in opposition to nearly $61 billion in support to Ukraine, mentioned he supported Ukraine’s effort to expel Putin’s “invasion force,” however he couldn’t endorse nonmilitary support 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 have been calling for a unique strategy.
Crawford, as an illustration, has supported renewal of a controversial regulation empowering the federal government to surveil the communications of foreigners when they’re overseas. That regulation — Part 702 of the Overseas 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 information 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.
—-
Author : LasVegasNews
Publish date : 2025-01-16 22:38:21
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.