The House Intelligence Committee needs new leadership.
Under Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and ranking member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the committee has become a partisan playground. That can and must change.
For a start, the issues that the committee oversees are gravely serious. Their task includes the monitoring of U.S. and foreign intelligence activities at home and abroad, and consideration of how intelligence is collected. Members are also briefed on information provided by allied intelligence services who trust the United States to keep their secrets safe.
For all these reasons, bipartisan collaboration is crucial if a committee is to do its job effectively.
But that's not what's happening in the House.
On the contrary, as the memo saga rumbles on, Nunes is weaponizing his agenda at the behest of the president and Schiff is running from one cable news studio to another, preaching the death of the republic. Moreover, seeing as Nunes and Schiff represent their committee on the so-called "gang of eight" covert action committee, their partisanship could jeopardize the nation's most closely guarded secrets.
Contrast this silliness with the Senate Intelligence Committee.
On the Senate side, Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., and ranking member Mark Warner, D-Va., have established a quiet, effective working relationship. Their committee leaks less and works more effectively in the manner that it should: behind closed doors. This is how to serve the people and their democracy.
Yet if Nunes and Schiff stay in their roles, the current predicament will only get worse. The two men's desire to one-up each other and their now open lack of respect will continue to reverberate if they stay on. We're already seeing it spread throughout the committee's work and into the minds, and tweets, of its other members.
For the country's sake, both Nunes and Schiff should step down.
