Sen. Mark Warner, the new top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, is not currently endorsing a select committee. | Getty Some Dems resist new Russia select committee

The bipartisan push for a special congressional committee to investigate Russian meddling in the election is running into a new hurdle: Senate Democrats.

Several members of the party, particularly those on the Intelligence Committee, are noncommittal about setting up a new select committee specifically devoted to cybersecurity that would also investigate Russian influence on the presidential election. Instead, some Democrats will wait to see whether Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) will follow through on his pledge to “expeditiously” investigate the electronic break-ins and preside over public hearings about the matter.


Democrats are also protecting their turf. Intelligence Committee members have little to gain right now by breaking with Burr, because they already have access to intelligence briefings that other members are hoping to get access to as part of a broader special panel. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are making a bipartisan push for a special select committee to tackle the Russia hacking — and cybersecurity more broadly.

That panel would, under one proposal, take key members from across the various committees with jurisdiction over cybersecurity and create one central clearinghouse for oversight over the Russia hackings as well as cyberthreats from other countries like North Korea and Iran. Schumer, Reed and McCain will all have access to the Intelligence Committee briefings regardless; Reed and McCain are "ex-officio" members of the committee and Schumer will get new intelligence briefings because he is leader of the Democrats.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the new top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, is not currently endorsing a select committee as he looks to forge a partnership with Burr. Still, he's leaving the door open to call for an investigatory shake-up in the future if the current Intel panel investigation stalls. But in the meantime, he's “actively engaged in discussions with Senator Burr” about the course of the current probe rather than calling for a new panel that would step on the Intel Committee's jurisdiction, a spokeswoman said.

“Senator Warner believes Congress is obligated to conduct — and the American people deserve — an investigation that is timely, thorough, and bipartisan,” said Rachel Cohen, a spokeswoman for Warner. “One of the goals of the investigation should be to release as much information as possible, while protecting sources and methods, so that the American people can understand exactly what happened.”

Warner’s hesitancy reflects the divisions among the committee’s seven Democrats as a whole. They all say they want to get to the bottom of the Russian hacking, but there’s no agreement among them about how to do it.

Sen. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said on CNN Tuesday that he’s “not taking a position as to whether it should be a new committee set up just for this purpose or whether the Intelligence committee can handle it.” Ditto Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who is not calling for a select committee after just being added to the Intelligence panel.

“The intelligence community has raised serious issues about Russia’s attempts to influence our electoral process, and Senator Manchin believes we have a responsibility to investigate what occurred. That said, any investigation now and in the future, must put politics aside and focus solely on how we can protect our Democratic institutions in the future,” said spokesman Jonathan Kott.

Democratic staffers said that Intelligence Committee members are loathe to start off 2017 by antagonizing Burr. They’d rather give Burr plenty of time to pursue his own investigation — and seek answers from both the outgoing Obama administration and the incoming Trump administration — while making as much public as possible.

“You can see why those members who want to have a thorough investigation would want to do it in [the Intelligence Committee]," said a senior Democratic aide.

And if there are early signs that Burr isn’t keeping his word, aides said, then Democrats on the committee could change their tune. Burr’s office declined to comment on the divisions among the committee’s Democrats.

A pair of Democrats on the panel, Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, both support select committees.

"The Russian hacking in the 2016 election — in this case on behalf of an unprecedentedly pro-Russian candidate — strikes at the core of our Democracy and cannot be brushed under the carpet,” Heinrich said in a statement on Wednesday. “There needs to be an independent, bipartisan commission designed solely to investigate Russia's interference in our election."

And while Wyden supports a select committee, he’s most concerned with transparency, whatever the exact committee structure is.

“His overriding concern is that the government get the facts out to the public quickly, whether they’re being investigated by the intelligence committees, other standing congressional committees, a joint congressional committee, or an independent commission. That includes open hearings,” said Keith Chu, a spokesman for Wyden.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who is leaving her post as the committee’s top Democrat, has so far declined to weigh in on the select committee question. She’s called for a bipartisan, bicameral independent commission on the Russian hacking that would report the results to Congress within 18 months, which she believes would “keep the politics of individual members of Congress out of the equation," according to aide.

Newly elected Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who will sit on the panel, did not respond to a request for comment.

The top four Senate Democratic leaders — Schumer, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Patty Murray of Washington and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan — all support a select committee as do many rank-and-file members. So while there is resistance among Intel Committee Democrats, Schumer is more concerned with convincing Republicans to back his push.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a Russia hawk who sits on the Intel committee, said on Wednesday evening that he opposes the panel.

"Lankford supports a full bipartisan investigation, but believes the sensitive classified information involved with this type of investigation should not be publicized. Therefore, he believes the Intelligence Committee should investigate this," said D.J. Jordan, a spokesman for Lankford.

Currently just three Republicans — Graham, McCain and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) — have endorsed Schumer's approach.

“They know that Sen. McConnell had not come out for it so they’re keeping their powder dry,” Schumer said on an ABC podcast on Wednesday. “But the informal chatter I get is they think it’s a good idea.”