I’m surprised to learn that Alcee Hastings is resigning his seat on the House Intelligence Committee. You might remember that Hastings was passed over for the chairmanship of this committee when the Democrats took control last January. His problem was that was impeached as a judge in 1989. Even though he was later acquitted of the charges, the Democrats felt it was a mark on his record that did not jibe with their clean government message. At the time, the Congressional Black Caucus was furious, but the Congressional Hispanic Caucus was thrilled that Silvestre Reyes got the chair in Hastings’ stead.
Hastings’ reasoning seems straightforward enough.
Democrat Alcee L. Hastings of Florida abruptly resigned Tuesday from the House Intelligence Committee, citing increased activities as chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and his work on the Rules Committee.
“Now, I will devote even more time to my continued work for the people of my congressional district by ratcheting up my work as chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, as a senior member of the House Rules Committee and as co-chairman of Florida’s congressional delegation,” Hastings said in a statement.
Pelosi has asked Hastings to stick around at least long enough to finish work on the the intelligence authorization bill (HR 2082), and Hasting has agreed. But Pelosi will need a replacement. There are a lot of considerations that go into doling out committee seats. Some of it is done by formulas, some of it is done by seniority, and some of it is done by raw political calculations.
I’m not privy to all the ins and outs. But it seems to me that Pelosi can go a few different ways. She can use the seat to help a vulnerable incumbent pad their resume…especially on national security matters. She can give the seat to someone with expertise in the field. She can round out the ideological makeup of the committee. She can select an African-American to replace Hastings, who is currently the only black member of the committee. Or she can give representation to a state or region that is underrepresented.
Based on these considerations, I think two of the strongest candidates are freshmen representatives Chris Carney (PA-10) and Yvette Clark (NY-11).
Carney is one of the most vulnerable incumbents in Congress. This is from his bio:
After 9/11, Congressman Carney served at the Pentagon as an intelligence analyst and senior advisor on intelligence and counterterrorism issues. He coordinated counterterrorism activities in the Middle East and later worked on the integration of national-level intelligence products in the effort to destroy international terrorist networks.
A Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy Reserve, Congressman Carney served multiple tours overseas and was activated for operations Enduring Freedom, Noble Eagle, and Southern Watch.
Carney’s experience definitely suits him for a seat on Intelligence, and he will be well prepared to interact with the briefers, having been on their side for many years.
Yvette Clark isn’t vulnerable. But she represents Brooklyn, one of the hotbed communities in the country for domestic terrorist threats. Like Carney, she already sits on the Homeland Security Committee, but New York City has no representation on the Intelligence Committee. She’s also an African-American, so her appointment would please the Congressional Black Caucus. And she’s a progressive. Pelosi has to lead the entire House, but she comes out of the progressive caucus and might be inclined to increase their representation on the critical national security committees (rather than fill them up with more Blue Dogs).
Anyway, it’s not my decision and I’m sure there are some congresspeople that have some legitimate right to ask for this seat. I recommend Clark. But Carney would be a savvy choice. Let’s see what happens.
