Bitch, Slapped (Again)

Pelosi Nixes Hastings Bid for Key Post
Tuesday, November 28, 2006

WASHINGTON — House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi has told Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings that he will not be the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, the two Democrats announced Tuesday.

"I have been informed by the speaker-elect that I will not serve as the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the 110th Congress. I am obviously disappointed with this decision. As we learn in Ecclesiastes, however, for everything there is a season," he said in a press statement.

"Congressman Alcee Hastings and I have had extensive consultations, and today I advised him that I would select someone else as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Alcee Hastings has always placed national security as his highest priority. He has served our country well, and I have full confidence that he will continue to do so," Pelosi said in a separate release.

No schedule has been set for Pelosi to name a chairman to the panel responsible for oversight of NSA warrantless wiretapping, leaks of classified information and the intelligence community's efforts to combat terror. The position must be filled by Jan. 4, 2007, when the 110th Congress convenes.