Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has introduced legislation calling for a vote on whether Representative Adam Schiff should be banned from accessing and viewing classified information, The Daily Caller first reported.
The legislation, known as the PENCIL Act, stands for “Preventing Extreme Negligence with Classified Information Licenses” Resolution. However, the name is also a nod to former President Donald Trump’s nickname for Schiff, “Pencil-Neck.”
“Congressman Adam Schiff led the effort for years to weaponize lies from the Clinton campaign and a corrupt Department of Justice to smear President Trump while destroying any trust the country had left in America’s intelligence agencies," Gaetz said in a statement.
"Speaker McCarthy kept his promise to remove Rep. Schiff from the Intelligence Committee, and with the PENCIL Resolution, we will express the sense of Congress that he should be barred from accessing any classified information at all. He can no longer be trusted by his colleagues in Congress or the American people," he continued.
The announcement came on the same day Schiff announced that he is running for the U.S. Senate. The legislation was first introduced in 2019 when Republicans did not have control of the House and the bill had no chance of passing.
Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, recently confirmed that Schiff and fellow Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell will be removed from the House Intelligence Committee and that the House will vote on the removal of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Schiff took to the Chinese-owned TikTok app shortly after being removed from the House Intelligence Committee, complaining that McCarthy removed him “for doing my job, for holding Trump accountable and standing up to the extreme MAGA Republicans," proceeding to ask for donations toward his future campaigns.
