Rep. Crawford to chair House Intel committee; Rep. Womack chairs key appropriations panel

by George Jared ([email protected]) 293 views 

U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, will be the next chair of the House Intelligence Committee, he confirmed on Thursday (Jan. 16). He replaces outgoing Chair U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, who was removed from the position by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

“I am truly honored to be selected to lead the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. I look forward to working with Speaker Johnson and the incoming Trump administration team to advance priorities that are important to Americans,” said Crawford.

“Since joining the committee in 2017, I have witnessed firsthand that abuse within our nation’s security apparatus has eroded trust in our institutions and compromised America’s ability to gather intelligence. As chairman, I will aggressively uphold our mandate to provide credible and robust oversight of the Intelligence Community’s funding and activities. Without aggressive oversight and vigorous protection of Americans’ Fourth Amendment rights, the IC is prone to give in to mission creep and skirt U.S. laws. In all our work, I pledge to preserve Americans’ constitutional rights even as we work to support the IC in doing everything required to collect indispensable information from our foreign adversaries,” added Crawford.

The eight-term congressman is the most senior Republican on the Committee, as reported by Politico. Crawford is viewed by many insiders as a less hawkish pick than Turner.

Turner publicly supported NATO for years and fought for funding to help the Ukrainians in their war against Russia. He asked the Biden administration last year to declassify information about Russia’s nuclear anti-satellite program, according to NBC News.

Crawford voted against a $60.8 billion aid package to Ukraine last April. He said he supported directly funding the country’s military, but the aid package had too many provisions for non-military aid.

“I want to thank Chairman Turner for his work in the 118th Congress. He led our committee ably and admirably, at a time when there was a distinct need for a steady hand. He is a valued member of our conference, and I will build from the solid base his leadership provided this committee,” said Crawford.

Crawford, who has served in Congress since 2010, is an Army veteran who served for four years. He enlisted out of high school. He served as an explosive ordnance disposal technician, and advanced to the rank of sergeant.

“This Congress has an opportunity to course-correct from the Biden administration’s failures, promote common-sense peace through strength, and re-focus our nation’s intelligence and counterintelligence community against our adversaries. Right now, terrorists, rogue regimes, and foreign state-actors are rapidly developing new ways to exploit and harm America’s national interests, and it’s our responsibility to ensure intelligence agencies remain three steps ahead of our enemies. And now, more than ever, leaks and indiscretions by misguided intelligence staff can endanger Americans and hinder our ability to predict and prevent attacks. Everyone on the Committee and within the IC must be devoted to secrecy regarding the material we review. The lives of our covert agents in the field, and the security of our homeland, depend on it,” said Crawford.

“The Committee has a unique opportunity to work toward rebuilding our intelligence apparatus so that our IC is focused on the challenges of today and is prepared for the threats of tomorrow. It is our aim to rebuild relationships with our partners in the Western Hemisphere, address issues with the development of IC assessments, determine which intelligence tools are needed to protect Americans, and provide our brave men and women in the U.S. intelligence services with the support they need. In our age of increasing threats from abroad and bloated bureaucracy at home, the Committee will be committed to preventing enemies’ attacks and upholding the privacy rights of all American citizens,” he added.

With Crawford’s appointment, five of the six congressmen in the Arkansas congressional delegation now chair major committees in the House and Senate.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, while U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., helms the Senate Agriculture Committee. In the House, U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Little Rock, chairs the House Financial Services Committee, and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, leads the House Committee on Natural Resources.

This week, U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, was reappointed as chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. Womack will also continue to serve on the Defense and Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Subcommittees during the 119th Congress.

“It’s been an honor to serve on the Appropriations Committee, particularly as chairman of the subcommittee that delivers the most for Arkansans. Drawing on my experience as a mayor, I understand how THUD’s jurisdiction impacts every American’s safety, economic opportunity, and quality of life. My service on Defense and FSGG allows me to strengthen our national defense and financial systems. My continued focus remains set on fiscal responsibility and securing wins for Third District Arkansans,” said Womack.

“I thank my friend, Chairman Cole, for his confidence in me to work on these vital components of the Appropriations Committee. With the rosters now in order, we must immediately finish Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations and begin our work on Fiscal Year 2026,” he added.