United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committee in the U.S. House of Representatives charged with the oversight of the United States Intelligence Community, though it does share some jurisdiction with other committees in the House, including the Armed Services Committee for some matters dealing with the Department of Defense and the various branches of the U.S. military.

United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Permanent select committee
Active United States House of Representatives 116th Congress
Seal of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
History
Formed	July 14, 1977
Formerly known as	Select Committee on Intelligence
Leadership
Chair	Adam Schiff (D) Since January 9, 2019
Ranking member	Mike Turner (R) Since January 1, 2022
Structure
Seats	22 (one vacancy)
Political parties	Majority (13)   Democratic (13) Minority (10)   Republican (10)
Jurisdiction
Purpose	to "oversee and make continuing studies of the intelligence activities and programs of the United States Government"
Oversight authority	United States Intelligence Community
Senate counterpart	United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Subcommittees
Strategic Technologies and Advanced Research (STAR) Subcommittee Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation (C3) Intelligence Modernization and Readiness (INMAR) Defense Intelligence and Warfighter Support (DWIS)
Website
intelligence.house.gov

The committee was preceded by the Select Committee on Intelligence between 1975 and 1977. House Resolution 658 established the permanent select committee, which gave it status equal to a standing committee on July 14, 1977.^[1]

Jurisdiction

The committee oversees all or part of the following executive branch departments and agencies:

• Office of the Director of National Intelligence
• Central Intelligence Agency
• Defense Intelligence Agency
• Department of Defense
• Department of Energy
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Justice
• Department of State
• Department of Treasury
• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
• National Reconnaissance Office
• National Security Agency
• Office of Naval Intelligence
• Sixteenth Air Force
• Space Delta 7
• Army Intelligence and Security Command
• Coast Guard Intelligence
• Marine Corps Intelligence Activity

History

Prior to establishing the permanent select committee in 1977, the House of Representatives established the "Select Committee on Intelligence", commonly referred to as the "Pike Committee", so named after its last chairman, Otis G. Pike of New York. The select committee had originally been established in February 1975 under the chairmanship of Congressman Lucien Nedzi of Michigan. Following Nedzi's resignation in June, the committee was reconstituted with Pike as chair, in July 1975, with its mandate expiring January 31, 1976. Under Pike's chairmanship, the committee investigated illegal activities by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The final report of the Pike Committee was never officially published, due to Congressional opposition. However, unauthorized versions of the draft final report were leaked to the press. CBS News reporter Daniel Schorr was called to testify before Congress, but refused to divulge his source.^[2] Major portions of the report were published by The Village Voice, and a full copy of the draft was published in England.

During the 1980s the HPSCI worked to acquire access to covert action notifications of the CIA, as well as to strengthen the role of the committee in intelligence agency funding. Under the Reagan administration, the HPSCI and United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) worked with the Director of Central Intelligence William J. Casey on what was known as the "Casey Accords". The accords required that covert action findings were to be accompanied by "scope papers" that included a risk/gain assessment of each such activity. However, the deal was not acceptable to the HPSCI, and after the Iran–Contra affair, more pressure was placed on strengthening the oversight of committees.^[3]

In 2017, the committee was tasked along with the SSCI to evaluate the degree of Russian interference in 2016 US elections.^[4] The committee was also investigating allegations of wiretapping of President Donald Trump, as well as ties between Russian officials and members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.^[5][6] The committee came under intense scrutiny in 2017 and 2018 due to allegations of partisanship and leaks of classified information by members and their staff. In March 2018, the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections was abruptly ended by the committee's Republican members despite the assertion by Democratic members that the investigation was incomplete and had failed to gather pertinent information. Notably, House Intelligence Republicans released a draft of their investigatory report which contradicted some findings of the U.S. Intelligence Community and was written without the input of House Democrats.^[7][8] In March 2018, after further bitter disagreements, Republican committee member Tom Rooney claimed that the committee had "lost all credibility" and had become "a political forum for people to leak information to drive the day's news."^[9] In July 2018, the chair of the committee, Representative Devin Nunes, accused the Department of Justice, and its Federal Bureau of Investigation, of obstructing the committee's Trump/Russia related investigation in the hope of a Democratic takeover of congress later that year.^[10]

With change of party leadership in the House for the 116th United States Congress, the committee launched a probe of Trump's finances and Russian ties in February 2019.^[11] In June 2019, in the course of hearings on the national security implications of climate change, the White House blocked the submission of a statement by the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research Office of the Geographer and Global Issues, and the analyst who wrote the statement, Rod Schoonover, resigned.^[12][13]

Members, 117th Congress

Majority	Minority
Adam Schiff, California, chair Jim Himes, Connecticut André Carson, Indiana Jackie Speier, California Mike Quigley, Illinois Eric Swalwell, California Joaquin Castro, Texas Peter Welch, Vermont Sean Patrick Maloney, New York Val Demings, Florida Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois Jim Cooper, Tennessee Jason Crow, Colorado	Mike Turner, Ohio, ranking member Brad Wenstrup, Ohio Chris Stewart, Utah Rick Crawford, Arkansas Elise Stefanik, New York Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma Trent Kelly, Mississippi Darin LaHood, Illinois Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania Mike Gallagher, Wisconsin
Ex officio
Nancy Pelosi, California	Kevin McCarthy, California

Subcommittees

Subcommittee	Chair	Ranking Member
Strategic Technologies and Advanced Research (STAR) Subcommittee	Jim Himes (D-CT)	Chris Stewart (R-UT)
Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation (C3) Subcommittee	André Carson (D-IN)	Rick Crawford (R-AR)
Intelligence Modernization and Readiness (INMAR) Subcommittee	Eric Swalwell (D-CA)	Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
Defense Intelligence and Warfighter Support (DIWS) Subcommittee	Peter Welch (D-VT)	Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)

Chairs

Select Committee chairs

• Lucien N. Nedzi (D), 1975
• Otis G. Pike (D), 1975–1976

Permanent Select Committee chairs

• Edward P. Boland (D), 1977–1985
• Lee H. Hamilton (D), 1985–1987
• Louis Stokes (D), 1987–1989
• Anthony C. Beilenson (D), 1989–1991
• David K. McCurdy (D), 1991–1993
• Dan Glickman (D), 1993–1995
• Larry Combest (R), 1995–1997
• Porter Goss (R), 1997–2004
• Pete Hoekstra (R), 2004–2007
• Silvestre Reyes (D), 2007–2011
• Mike Rogers (R), 2011–2015
• Devin Nunes (R), 2015–2019
• Adam Schiff (D), 2019–present

See also

• COINTELPRO
• Church Committee
• Family Jewels
• List of current United States House of Representatives committees
• Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019)
• United States President's Commission on CIA Activities within the United States
• United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Notes

1. "H.Res.658 - Resolution to amend the Rules of the House of Representatives and establish a Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence". Congress.gov. July 14, 1977. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
2. U.S. House. Hearings Before the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Investigation of Publication of Select Committee on Intelligence Report. 94th Congress, 2nd session. July 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28 and 29, September 8, 14, 15, 1976.
3. Snider, L. Britt. (PDF). p. 63. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 3, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
4. "Donald Trump's habit of making accusations without evidence is corrosive". The Economist. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
5. "Five things to watch at the House Intelligence Committee's Russia hearing". Washington Post. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
6. "House Intelligence Committee member on the Russia-Trump investigation: 'There is more than circumstantial evidence now'". Business Insider. March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
7. "Russia probe: House intel Republicans end investigation, find 'no evidence' of collusion". USA Today. March 12, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
8. Megerian, Chris (March 13, 2018). "Republicans wind down House Intelligence Committee's Russia investigation, claiming no evidence of collusion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
9. Squitieri, Jason (March 13, 2018). "Republican member of House Intel Committee says it has 'lost all credibility'". CNN. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
10. Kredo, Adam (July 17, 2018). "Intel Chair: FBI, DOJ Obstructing Trump Probe in Hope of Dem Takeover in Congress". Free Beacon. Washington, D.C. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
11. "House Intelligence Committee launches broad new probe of Trump's finances and Russia ties". Chicago Tribune.
12. Eilperin, Juliet (July 10, 2019). "Intelligence aide, blocked from submitting written testimony on climate change, resigns from State Dept. Rod Schoonover's decision to leave was voluntary, according to individuals familiar with the matter". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
13. "White House edits of intelligence agency's testimony. This document shows White House officials' comments on the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research climate testimony, which they ultimately blocked from being submitted to Congress". Washington Post. June 14, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States House Committee on Intelligence.

• Official website
• , Government Printing Office Online. Detailed listings of many aspects of previous memberships and sessions of Congress.
• Open Congress Wiki
• Pike Committee Reports
• The Pike Committee Investigations and the CIA November 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
• Are all leaks good? The Pike Committee Report, Kissinger, and the Distortion of Events
• Historical Dictionary of the Kurds: Pike Committee Report
• Covert Action and the Pike Committee: 1975–76