The two California lawmakers atop the House Intelligence Committee approach part of their work very differently. On Tuesday, though, they found common ground in a new cyber security bill.
The bipartisan introduction of the Protecting Cyber Networks Act marks a notable public step by the committee’s new chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Until now, the 41-year-old conservative from the rural San Joaquin Valley has largely shunned the spotlight as he settles into his new role.
“By design, I’ve been pretty low profile, just trying to get the job done,” Nunes said in an interview Tuesday.
The cyber security bill jointly introduced by Nunes and the committee’s senior Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, is supposed to ease the sharing of information by government and private industry about cyber threats and potential attacks, such as the ones that targeted Sony Pictures and Home Depot last year.
The cyber security legislation is the fourth bill introduced by Nunes since the current Congress began last January, and the second to arise from his Intelligence committee responsibilities. Schiff also co-sponsored his earlier bill, authorizing $4.5 million a year for the committee’s work.
The duo has presented a united front on other occasions, issuing joint press releases at times.
“We have a great, constructive working relationship,” Schiff said in an interview Tuesday.
Still, they differ in their public visibility.
Nunes, often bluntly outspoken on issues like California water and the shortcomings of the Obama administration, has so far taken a quieter approach as chairman of the committee that does much of its work in secret.
Nunes’s nose-to-the-grindstone reticence contrasts with the approach taken by his Republican predecessor in the committee chair, former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan. Rogers frequently appeared on Sunday talk shows and in other media venues, holding forth on hot topics.
Last year, a study by a liberal watchdog group called Media Matters for America found, Rogers led all other members of Congress with 29 separate appearances on the Sunday shows such as “Meet the Press” and “Face the Nation.”
In January, following his retirement from the House of Representatives, he joined CNN as a “national security commentator.”
Schiff now appears to be the committee member whose name is on the speed dial of every TV booker.
In just the past month, the 54-year-old Harvard Law School graduate has appeared multiple times on Fox, CNN and MSNBC, fielding questions on topics from Iran and Russia to Israel and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails.
The regular television appearances give Schiff a chance to shape public opinion on national security matters, while also raising his visibility for a potential U.S. Senate race. He says he is weighing a 2016 run for the seat now held by the retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, a race in which a major challenge would be competing for media attention.
“There is a certain dynamic, where if you’re on and the host thinks you answered the questions well, they’ll invite you back,” Schiff said, adding that choosing whether or not to accept a television invitation is “a matter of personal preference.”
Nunes has not appeared on any of the Sunday political talk shows this year, though he did speak last month with Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly, who introduced him by noting he “is now briefed on some of the nation’s top secrets.”
Nunes used his Fox appearance to criticize the Obama administration’s response to terrorism and the rise of groups like the Islamic State. But amid hearings, intelligence agency visits and foreign trips that so far this year have included three to the Middle East, Nunes said television studios are a low priority.
“I frankly don’t have time to go out there and jibber-jabber,” Nunes said. “I only go out when I have specific points to make.”
Such as on Tuesday, where, hoping to make some points about their new cyber security bill, Nunes and Schiff appeared together on CNN.
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