Gephardt, not Pelosi, promised Harman chairmanship

Rep. Jane Harman was promised the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee, according to a letter obtained by The Hill. But the promise was made by former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt, not Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The Hill obtained a copy of the letter Thursday as it became a point of disagreement between Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

{mosads}Harman (D-Calif.) had said in a television interview Tuesday that she’d been promised the chairmanship in writing by “the leadership.” It was meant as evidence that she didn’t need to lobby or enlist help to get the job.

But Pelosi said Wednesday that was “completely not so.”

The letter was written in 1999 to Harman after she had apparently decided to run again for the seat she had vacated in 1998 to run for governor. It is signed by Gephardt (D-Mo.), then-Democratic Whip David Bonoir (Mich.) then-caucus chairman Martin Frost (D-Texas) and Hoyer himself, who worked on chairmanship issues as chairman of the Democrats’ Steering and Policy Committee.

It promises that should she win, which she did, she would be returned to her full seniority on the Intelligence Committee, “allowing you to hold … the chair of the full committee in two years.”

The letter provides ammunition to both sides. It does promise Harman the chairmanship, but not from Pelosi, and in 2001, not 2007.

After Pelosi led Democrats to victory in 2006, Pelosi decided not to give Harman the chairmanship. She said it was “custom” that the top Democrat on the panel serve only two terms. But she went to some lengths to deny Harman the job. She had to skip over Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), risking the anger of the Congressional Black Caucus, to get to the current chairman, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas).

The letter makes no reference to the custom of term limits that Pelosi cites.

Asked about the letter Thursday, Harman said in a statement, “Though I was disappointed at the time, I have moved on and am productively engaged in my roles as Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee chair and member of the Energy and Health subcommittees of Energy and Commerce.”

Hoyer also said he believed the letter gave Harman reason to believe that she would be chairwoman of the panel.

“I know there was a letter … which gave her the belief she would be chairman,” Hoyer said in an interview Thursday with the editors of The Hill. “Obviously Ms. Pelosi, who appoints the committee, did not agree with that.

“I think there’s some basis for congresswoman Harman, who I think did an outstanding job as the ranking member, there was some basis on which she could have believed she would be the chair,” Hoyer said.
 
As a centrist and foreign policy hawk among Democrats, Harman is closely aligned with Hoyer.

Harman, who voted for the Iraq war resolution, has a feud with Pelosi that dates at least back to the time that Pelosi denied her the Intelligence chairmanship.