[R]ep. Peter Welch has been named to the House Intelligence Committee, one of the most powerful oversight panels in Congress, as investigations into Russian involvement in the 2016 election and whether President Donald Trump colluded with the foreign government are expected in the new Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced on Wednesday that Welch had been appointed to the committee, which oversees all 17 national security agencies including the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security and is poised to reclaim its executive oversight function — critics say Republicans abdicated that role in the last two years under committee chair Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.
“The tradition of the committee is that it is non-partisan and is dedicated to the mission of scrupulous oversight,” Welch said. “My goal is to contribute to get it back to that tradition.”
Welch said the committee will have a prominent role in the investigation into Russian involvement in the presidential election and will look closely at special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative report when it is released.
“The Russian investigation is about the integrity of our democracy,” Welch said. “There was massive Russian interference and every one of us in Congress should be concerned by that.”
Welch’s appointment to the influential intelligence committee, marks a shift for the Vermont representative, who is not known for his national security proposals, but has served on the subcommittee on national security within the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the past.
Garrett Graff, a Burlington based journalist and considered the foremost expert on Mueller, said with the profile of the intelligence committee and the responsibility it will hold over the coming years, it is noteworthy that Welch has been named as a committee member.
“In many ways it has become the highest profile position in the House and that is why it’s really interesting and significant that Peter Welch has been named to it, in many ways because he doesn’t have a clear national security background himself,” Graff said.
According to Graff, the plan of attack over the next two years of committee chair Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., will include picking up and continuing with the Russian investigation where the Republican leadership left it.
“Schiff has brought on a lot of new staff in the last few weeks to rebuild that investigation and now it obviously has subpoena power,” Graff said.
Graff also expects Schiff to investigate events that have happened since 2017, including the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi government operatives.
The third category of events Schiff will target are yet to have happened, but will be investigated in real time as they happen, according to Graff.
Graff said the White House has been actively preparing for legal fights with House Democrats, and that while the administration received a reprieve from oversight over the first half of the term, it should expect more pushback in the next two years.
“Belatedly the White House counsel is stocking up on lawyers,” Graff said. “They are trying to get themselves in gear to do battle with Democrats on the Hill.”
Welcome to the great new Democratic Members of the House Intelligence Committee: @RepValDemings, @CongressmanRaja, @PeterWelch, and @RepSeanMaloney.
I’m looking forward to working with you over the next two years.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 16, 2019
Welch was also re-appointed to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which works on issues of health care, the environment, telecommunications, and consumer protection. Welch will be serving on the subcommittee on health, energy, and communications and technology. He is planning to work closely on climate change, pharmaceutical prescription prices, and the issue of net neutrality.
Welch, who has repeatedly stated that the Democratically controlled lower chamber must not simply investigate the Trump administration but work on legislation that will create social and economic change for disadvantaged Americans, said it is just as important to fulfill the role of oversight and that he will be balancing these two roles over the next two years.
Welch expects he will be able to achieve both of these goals with his work on the intelligence committee and also on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“We have a duty to do oversight, but the primary responsibility is to have an economic agenda that works for everyday people,” Welch said. “The majority of my time will be serving on that committee and looking at the economy for everyday Americans and Vermonters.”
