Rep. Adam Schiff will serve as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
Schiff, of California, replaces Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, of Maryland, who has served as ranking member since 2011.
Ruppersberger had exceeded the two-term limit for the job, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has unilateral power to name a lawmaker to the top party spot on the Intelligence panel.
Schiff will serve alongside Republican Chairman Devin Nunes, who is also a Californian.
“As a senior member of the Intelligence Committee, Congressman Schiff has been a vital voice on the most pressing national security challenges of our time, including counter terrorism efforts and challenges in the Middle East. He has proven himself to be a capable leader and a proponent of surveillance reforms,” Pelosi said Thursday.
The position is an important one. Even though Schiff is not the chairman, he is included in circle of eight lawmakers in the House and Senate who are briefed on classified intelligence.
Schiff served on the panel last year, but was listed fourth in line after Ruppersberger.
Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Jim Langevin, D-R.I., ranked above him. According to Pelosi aides, they also exceeded the two-term limit. The aide added none was eligible for a waiver to stay on the panel.
Schiff was elected in 2000 and has been active on foreign policy matters. He has served on the Foreign Affairs panel and is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
Last year, Pelosi appointed him to serve on a special panel examining the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorists attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Schiff, who earned a law degree at Harvard University, has introduced legislation aimed at curbing widespread and controversial data collection by the National Security Agency. He also introduced a bill to repeal the 2001 authorization for use of military force in Iraq, which is now the legal basis for Obama’s decision to send military advisers and launch air strikes against Islamic State terrorists in the Middle East.
