Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced two new members to serve on the prestigious House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-10) was selected along with Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) to the panel, which has oversight over the intelligence community and access to highly sensitive information.

The House Freedom Caucus was pushing Johnson to select Perry, its former leader, to the committee. As a select committee, Johnson has the ability to make his own selection, but given his precarious hold on the majority, some may see the move as a nod to the right flank of the Republican party.

“My great thanks to Speaker Johnson for selecting me to sit on the House Intelligence Committee,” said Perry. “I’m humbled by his confidence in me, my service to our Nation, and my experience in this arena. I look forward to providing not only a fresh perspective, but conducting actual oversight – not blind obedience to some facets of our Intel Community that all too often abuse their powers, resources, and authority to spy on the American People.”

Perry is still involved in a federal investigation into efforts to subvert the 2020 election by Trump and his allies. This panel has oversight powers over the FBI, which seized Perry’s cell phone in August 2022. And Perry sought to litigate what the federal investigators would be able to access on his phone, which led some Republicans to say that picking him for Intel was out of the equation.

The appointments were announced on the House floor with little fanfare and no announcements from the speaker’s office.

The two open seats from the panel resulted from the midterm departures of Reps. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.).

Perry currently serves on three committees: Transportation and Infrastructure, of which he’s Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, and a member of the Subcommittee on Aviation; Oversight and Accountability; and Foreign Affairs, on which he serves on the Subcommittee on Oversight & Accountability.

“When even Congressman Scott Perry’s Republican colleagues admit he’s unfit for this job, you know there’s an issue,” said Democrat Janelle Stelson, his opponent in the November general election. “The politician whose phone was seized by the FBI is now overseeing the FBI. We cannot play games with our country’s most important secrets, and Central Pennsylvanians should be incredibly concerned that Scott Perry is in that position.”