WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump withdrew Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination to be US ambassador to the United Nations, she was given private assurances that she would not only rejoin the House GOP leadership team, but also reclaim her coveted spot on the House Intelligence Committee, according to two Republican sources familiar with the deliberations.
Two weeks later, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is still scrambling to figure out how to keep his pledge to reinstate her to the committee, despite the fact that the action was officially revealed Wednesday.
Johnson faces a conundrum: he must either remove a Republican from the high-profile Intelligence Committee, which could spark conflict among current members, or amend House rules to add a member. According to House rules, the committee can have no more than 25 members, with no more than 14 from one party, which is the number of Republicans on the panel right now.
Adding a member would expand the committee’s membership, which some members have previously argued is excessively large. It may also compel Johnson to enable House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., to add another Democrat.
Johnson’s office told NBC News that the speaker and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford, R-Ark., are committed to finding a way to accommodate Stefanik in the coming weeks.
“The Speaker will be working with Chairman Crawford and HPSCI members to get Rep. Stefanik reintegrated into the Intelligence Committee in the coming weeks,” according to Johnson’s spokeswoman. “They both look forward to having her expertise back on the committee.”
The embarrassing scenario has strained relations between Johnson and Stefanik, as well as among members of the key panel and the larger Republican conference. Adding to the turmoil, three top House Republicans claim Stefanik coerced Johnson into publicly declaring her new leadership arrangement ahead of a critical budget vote in the House, when her support was desperately needed.
Johnson has yet to communicate his intentions to Intelligence Committee members, leaving some concerned that their positions may be jeopardized.
According to a source familiar with the discussions, Johnson suggested numerous Republicans whom he could ask to stand down in private while working out Stefanik’s new arrangement. They include Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas, the panel’s most junior Republican; Rep. Claudia Tenney, who, like Stefanik, is from New York; and Rep. French Hill of Arkansas, who chairs the powerful Financial Services Committee. Johnson appointed Fallon and Tenney to the panel on January 16.
Despite Johnson’s early statements, no decisions have been taken, and no members have been asked about their willingness to give up their seats, according to various Republican sources.
“I think it’s a fluid process,” said a House Republican familiar with the committee’s deliberations. “I think they’re trying to see if they bump somebody off to make room for her or whether they add two more — add a Democrat and a Republican.”
The politician opposed adding more members, claiming that the Intelligence Committee had already “expanded twice in the last two years.”
Johnson must proceed with caution, since his previous nominations for the Intelligence Committee, which oversees the National Intelligence Director’s Office and the CIA, have gotten him in trouble with some conference members.
Johnson angered moderates in the previous Congress by passing up more pragmatic members such as Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Laurel Lee, R-Fla., in favor of two controversial firebrands, Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas. Johnson also removed the panel’s former chairman, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who was not popular in Trump’s circles.