Washington – When President Donald Trump withdrew the nomination of representative Elise Stefanik to be an ambassador of the United States before the United Nations, they gave him private guarantees that he would not only join the leadership team of the Republican Party of the Chamber, but also claim his coveted place in the Chamber’s Intelligence Committee, according to two republican sources with knowledge Deliberations
Two weeks later, President Mike Johnson, Republican of La-La., Is still struggling to discover how to fulfill the promise of placing it in the committee, even after the measure was announced publicly on Wednesday.
The enigma for Johnson is that he has to eliminate a Republican who currently sits in the high -profile intelligence committee, which could cause conflicts between existing members, or be forced to change the camera rules to add a member. The Chamber rules dictate that the Committee can be composed of no more than 25 members with a maximum of 14 of a party, which is how many Republicans are currently on the panel.
Adding a member would increase the size of the committee, which some members have already complained are too swollen. He could also force Johnson to allow the minority leader of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., add another Democrat.
In a statement to NBC News, Johnson’s office said the president of the President and the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives, Rick Crawford, R-ARK, commit to finding a solution to accommodate Stefanik in the coming weeks.
“The speaker will work with President Crawford and HPSCI members for representative Stefanik to reintegrate into the Intelligence Committee in the coming weeks,” said a Johnson spokesman. “Both hope to have their experience in the committee.”
Stefanik’s office did not respond to a request for comments.
The awkward situation has created tension between Johnson and Stefanik, in the influential panel and within the widest conference of the Republican Party. In addition to the drama, three Republicans of the House of Representatives say that Stefanik with the Fuerte Navy Johnson to publicly announce his new leadership agreement before a key budget vote in the Chamber for which his support was very necessary.
Johnson has not yet indicated his intentions to the members of the Intelligence Committee, leaving several worries if their points could be in the cutting block.
In private conversations that has the new Stefanik agreement, a source familiar with the discussion said, Johnson raised several Republicans who could ask to resign. They include the representative Pat Fallon of Texas, who is the most junior republican of the panel; Representative Claudia Tenney, who, like Stefanik, is from New York; and the representative French Hill de Arkansas, who presides over the powerful financial services committee. Johnson named Fallon and Tenney for the panel on January 16.
But despite Johnson’s initial suggestions, no decisions have been made, and members have not been addressed if they would be willing to lose their points, according to multiple republican sources.
“I think it is a fluid process,” said a republican of the camera who is familiar with the discussions in the panel. “I think they are trying to see if they leave someone to leave space for her or if they add two more: add a Democrat and a Republican.”
The legislator opposed adding more members, saying that the Intelligence Committee had already been “expanded twice in the last two years.”
Johnson needs to step carefully, since his past selections for the Intelligence Committee, which provides supervision of the Office of the National Intelligence and CIA office, have taken him to Agua Caliente with some members of the conference.
Johnson bothered the moderates in the last congress when he approved more pragmatic members, such as Stephanie Bice, R-Okla.; Zach Nunn, R-Iowa; and Laurel Lee, Republican of F-Fla., And instead appointed two controversial brands for the panel, Scott Perry, R-Pa., And Ronny Jackson, R-Texas. And Johnson this year launched the former president of the Panel, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who was not loved in Trump’s orbit.
The role of Stefanik Colide with the key budget vote
The dismay on how to accommodate Stefanik is just an example of the interruption that Trump caused to extract his nomination. And it is a situation that may be using for its advantage, affirming its close relationship with Trump and the fact that their vote is crucial for Republicans in the House of Representatives.
On Wednesday, the leaders of the House of Representatives were preparing to take a procedural step to adopt a budget resolution to advance the Trump legislative agenda. At that time, Johnson had not announced the new role of Stefanik, even though there were conversations behind the scene.
Stefanik, who had not voted in the Chamber since Trump withdrew his nomination on March 27, made the White House realize the situation when officials called to launch budget votes, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Under the pressure of Stefanik, Johnson decided to see Greenlight a public announcement about his new agreement, the sources said.
Stefanik then presented himself to the Capitol for the vote of key procedure, but she retained her vote until the last second, making it decisive when putting the measure on the finish line. Whether it is intentional or not, the maneuver was an unmistakable reminder for Stefanik’s colleagues that they need their vote, so Trump asked him to stay in Congress.
Moments after the vote, Stefanik, who resigned from his position as president of the Conference of the Republican Party of the House of Representatives when she was nominated for the Embassy, publicly announced her new role: President of the Republican Leadership of the Chamber, a position that will come with additional staff and resources. Stefanik also announced that he will return to his positions on intelligence, education and workforce, and armed services committees. Stefanik and Johnson then issued a joint statement on the news 2½ hours later.
Some main Republicans, including other members of the Johnson leadership team, said the announcement caught them off guard. Stefanik’s allies, however, point out that Trump made it clear that he wants him to have a plum landing place as quickly as possible and argues that he has been nothing more than the final team player throughout the saga.
There is still a matter of what type of leadership paper, if any, Stefanik would assume in the Intelligence Committee. In the last congress, she had been one of her most important members. If it had not been beaten for the UN position, I would have been in dispute to lead the panel after Johnson expelled Turner. Johnson appointed Crawford as the new president and did the representative Trent Kelly, Republican of Miss., The vice president.
But Stefanik would have more antiquity in the panel than Kelly, “what his vice president would do, technically,” said the legislator of the House of Representatives familiar with the deliberations on the panel. And the subcommittee Gavels has already been granted to the 119th Congress, said the person.
