Mike Johnson appoints election-denying Trump loyalists to House Intelligence Committee

GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, placating Donald Trump and the right-wing of his caucus, appointed Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, to fill two open slots on the House Intelligence Committee, granting MAGA loyalists regular access to sensitive, highly classified government material.

The selection of Perry, who is the target of a federal investigation over his and Trump's attempts to subvert the 2020 election, has set off alarms even among Republican politicians who see him as spoiled goods. Five anonymous lawmakers who opposed Perry's appointment told Politico that he was "all but ineligible," especially in light of the lawmaker's efforts to block the FBI from probing his phone records. The Intelligence Committee has oversight over the FBI.

Perry's supporters on the right-wing Freedom Caucus waged an open campaign to seat him on the panel. “The FBI investigation has offered us B.S. over January 6 … which is part of the problems we have at the FBI. So if there's more oversight of the FBI, that is a good thing. Not a bad thing,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., a strident Trump supporter and potential running mate, told Politico. “I didn’t didn't realize that the Intel Committee is the end-all-be-all of what happens in Congress. These guys are pissing me off.”

Johnson, who counts on the support of Trump and the Freedom Caucus to keep his gavel in a closely-divided House, apparently gave in to their demands. His other pick, Jackson, a former Trump doctor, is reportedly more palatable to the caucus in part because he has forged relationships with members on the Armed Services Committee.

Jackson has controversies of his own. In 2022, a Department of Defense investigation found that he had gotten regularly drunk and abused subordinates during his service as rear admiral. Although the Navy demoted him to captain, Jackson continues to refer to himself as an admiral on his official bio.

Some of his fellow Republicans believe he only got the appointment because of his old boss.

“I know Trump is weighing in heavily for Ronny, but I think that is unfair,” one lawmaker told Politico, fuming that that the lobbying was shunting aside more qualified candidates.