Congressional leaders on Friday appointed members to the House Intelligence Committee, finally standing up a prestigious panel that became the unlikely forum for the most polarizing investigations and political battles of the Trump era.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed Friday that the panel’s 13 Democratic members will include two new appointees: Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado and Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee. The GOP’s 10 members, appointed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, will include four new lawmakers: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of New York, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Darin LaHood of Illinois and Trent Kelly of Mississippi.

“On the Intelligence Committee, these Members will be effective forces in keeping the American people safe, as we confront our nation’s adversaries, adapt to new threats and work with our allies," Pelosi said in statement.

The panel’s chairman, Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), and ranking Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), were reappointed to lead the committee on Jan. 13, but the panel has been unable to conduct most business without a full roster.

House Republicans, who made gains in the November elections, ended up securing an extra seat on the panel. House rules mandate that the Intelligence Committee be comprised of 22 members, but that provision was waived by unanimous consent on Friday in order to make room for the extra GOP member.

“Intelligence is the first line of defense in protecting our country against threats and foreign adversaries,” McCarthy said in a statement. "I know that each of the members appointed today will be up to that task."

The reason for the delay in setting up the committee is unclear. Some sources said it was the back-and-forth over the panel's ratios of Democrats to Republicans, while others speculated that Pelosi was waiting to see whether Schiff was tapped to replace Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden's nominee to be secretary of health and human services, as California's Attorney General.

Historically, the panel has attracted lawmakers who want to do serious intelligence work; committee members deal with the nation’s most closely held secrets and most often meet in secure, classified settings.

The new appointees are not among those considered the most polarizing or divisive in Congress — and in fact could help the panel heal in the post-Trump era. That includes Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent who called for censuring Trump after the Jan. 6 riots; Crow, a former U.S. Army Ranger who represents a swing district; and Cooper, a longtime member who belongs to the centrist Blue Dog Coalition.

But Democrats have taken notice that a majority of the Republican appointees, including the new members, voted against certifying some of the 2020 election results, even after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Schiff, in a recent CBS podcast interview, acknowledged that emotions are still raw following the Jan. 6 attack.

"I would like to get back to some level of comity — I realize it's going to take time,” he said. “Within the Democratic caucus, there is continuing anger, among other emotions, over the fact that even after the failed insurrection, so many of our Republican colleagues were back on the House floor trying to overturn the results of the election and propagating the same falsehoods that led to that attack on the Capitol. Most of the Republicans on the Intelligence Committee are among that group, but nonetheless, the work of the committee has to get done.”

The Intelligence Committee is the only permanent committee in Congress whose members are hand-picked unilaterally by the Republican and Democratic leaders in the House, meaning they retain tight control over the committee's business and tend to appoint close allies. The committee has historically kept a low-profile, with members generally setting aside partisan passions to focus on national security matters, a norm that was upsended in the Trump era.

Under Republican leadership in 2017 and 2018, the panel ran an abbreviated probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, which Democrats called a whitewash intended to protect Trump from serious scrutiny. When Democrats took over the panel in 2019, Schiff led the investigation that ultimately became an impeachment inquiry into Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. Schiff was then appointed lead impeachment manager in Trump’s first Senate trial.

Schiff has emphasized that even when the panel was at the depths of its worst division, the members managed to produce bipartisan legislation reauthorizing key intelligence programs and funding measures. When the panel wasn’t engaged in impeachment or Russia-related matters, members still often joined together for threat briefings, though at times members said the work of the committee suffered amid the infighting.

In a sign that tensions are still likely to flare on the committee, Republicans have already targeted some of Pelosi’s picks. Shortly after it was revealed on the House floor that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) would return to the panel, McCarthy announced that he would try to force a floor vote next week to remove Swalwell, whose interactions with a woman identified as a Chinese spy have come under scrutiny.

“Based on the briefing [Pelosi] and I received together, Swalwell should not be on the panel in charge of guarding our nation's secrets,” McCarthy tweeted Friday.

The effort, however, is sure to fail in the Democratic-led House. Republicans also called on Schiff to resign from the panel during Trump’s first impeachment and unsuccessfully tried to force a vote on censuring the California Democrat.

And Pelosi has previously said she has zero “concern” about Swalwell’s fitness to serve on the panel. Pelosi also appointed Swalwell as an impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial.

“This will be tabled instantly. This is a waste of time,” a senior Democratic aide said of McCarthy’s effort. “Swalwell handled this situation appropriately and has been accused of no wrongdoing. Republicans should be very wary of starting something like this. Their conference is brimming with exposure.”

Like Swalwell and Schiff, Crow was also an impeachment manager, the only one during Trump’s first trial who did not hail from either the Judiciary or Intelligence Committees.

Another potential flashpoint for the panel: Schiff has continued to pursue financial records of Trump's held by his longtime financier, Deutsche Bank, and is awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit that has been winding through the courts for more than a year.

But the committee is also going to confront a significant national security agenda as the intelligence community grapples with the fallout of the massive Solar Winds cyber operation believed to be orchestrated by Russia; the rising threat of domestic terrorism that the FBI has described as a top, growing priority for the bureau; and a bipartisan push to counter China.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand became the highest ranking members of the New York delegation to call on embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign, a dramatic escalation in the push to remove the governor from office amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

The statement from the Senate’s top Democrat comes hours after Cuomo publicly refused calls for him to step down, declaring that doing so amounted to "bowing to cancel culture" and that he would do no such thing.

"Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York,” the New York senators wrote. “Governor Cuomo should resign.”

Schumer and Gillibrand join nearly every member of the state’s congressional delegation who have now mobilized against Cuomo, with a growing number of women accusing him of sexual harassment or assault.

The list includes senior Democratic committee chairs — Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerry Nadler and Nydia Velázquez — who have worked with the Cuomo family for decades, as well as high-profile progressives, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mondaire Jones and Jamaal Bowman. Democratic Congressional Campaign Chair Sean Patrick Maloney joined the list shortly before noon, and Rep. Paul Tonko chimed in a half hour later. Rep. Ritchie Torres joined the list Friday evening.

“As public servants, we must earn the trust and respect of those we represent. There is only one way the Governor can truly restore accountability and confidence to his office: he must resign,” Velázquez said in a statement.

Cuomo, meanwhile, remained defiant on Friday afternoon, decrying unspecified politicians as "reckless and dangerous" for rushing to judgment.

"The people of New York should not have confidence in a politician who takes a position without knowing any facts or substance," Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters. "Politicians take positions for all sorts of reasons, including political expediency and bowing to pressure. But people know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture, and the truth."

The New York governor has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct ranging from lewd conversation to groping a staffer in the governor's mansion late last year — an allegation that was recently referred to police in Albany. Cuomo has denied the allegations made against him, but apologized for making people feel uncomfortable with his actions.

Cuomo’s loyalists had been trying to rally Democrats around the idea of waiting on the conclusion of independent investigations into the allegations before passing judgment or calling for him to step aside.

In recent days, they enlisted Hazel Dukes, president of the New York branch of the NAACP, and former Rep. Nita Lowey to make the case as others distance themselves from the governor.

“At least until [investigators] have reported their conclusions, the Governor should remain in office," Lowey said in a statement issued Wednesday by the New York State Democratic Committee, which Cuomo effectively controls.

But on Capitol Hill, Cuomo’s support had been cracking over the last two weeks, with many lawmakers and staff privately discussing a matter of when — not if — they would call on him to resign. Those discussions were mostly in informal calls, group text threads, or conversations off the floor, with no formal meeting by the New York delegation to discuss the governor, according to people familiar with the efforts.

The breaking point, several Democrats said, came in the last 48 hours, as a woman accused the governor of physically groping her, at the same time Democrats in the state legislature began taking steps toward impeachment proceedings. A seventh woman has since come forward.

The lawmakers — whose districts stretch from New York City to Buffalo — released statements Friday morning within minutes of one another, part of a loosely organized effort to push Cuomo out of office.

“Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York,” Nadler, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “Governor Cuomo must resign.”

Several key New York Democrats did not take part in Friday’s campaign, including House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries and House Foreign Affairs Chair Gregory Meeks.

Jeffries said he supported the impeachment proceedings but did not directly call for Cuomo’s resignation Friday evening: "Under these extraordinary circumstances, the Governor must seriously consider whether he can continue to effectively lead the state.”

Meeks added: "The governor has a right to due process," noting that he "fully supports" the ongoing investigation.

Rep. Tom Suozzi on Friday also left it up to the entrenched governor to decide, saying in a statement: “I believe the Governor must seriously consider whether he can effectively continue to govern in the midst of these unfolding allegations.”

New York Attorney General Tish James is in the midst of an investigation into the allegations made against Cuomo in recent weeks, an effort anchored by a pair of outside attorneys. And the Democrat-led state Assembly, which would initiate potential impeachment proceedings, on Thursday announced plans to launch a probe of its own with subpoena power.

The group of lawmakers join Rep. Kathleen Rice, who was among the earliest elected Democrats to call for the governor to step down. Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation and on the state level have also demanded Cuomo’s ouster.

As Cuomo’s support in the House delegation crumbled, he was suffering another major defection closer to home. The five state Democratic senators representing Long Island — a bloc of moderates who had been close allies of the governor — issued a joint statement saying Cuomo “cannot lead the state while faithfully responding to multiple investigations” and should instead allow Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to take the reins, at least temporarily.

The Biden administration has tried to keep its distance from Cuomo in the face of repeated questions about the allegations and whether the governor should step down. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that officials had seen the news about the congressional delegation's break from Cuomo but had nothing to add on the subject.

Burgess Everett and Bill Mahoney contributed to this report.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is being investigated by his own political party as a sixth woman comes forward with sexual misconduct allegations. Jericka Duncan reports on the new details and the latest backlash against the governor.

In his first primetime address, President Biden said, "America is coming back," and that he would be directing all states to make all American adults eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by May 1. Also, New York lawmakers have launched an impeachment investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Governor Andrew Cuomo. All that and all that matters in today's Eye Opener. Your world in 90 seconds.