Tenure
Schiff voted in favor of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In February 2015, discussing how or whether to tailor Bush-era plans from 2001 and 2002 to fight ISIS, he was asked whether he regretted that vote. He said: "Absolutely. Unfortunately, our intelligence was dead wrong on that, on Saddam at that time. The vote set in motion a cascading series of events which have [had] disastrous consequences."
Schiff has been a leading voice in Armenian-American issues; he claims that over 70,000 Armenian-Americans reside in his district. He introduced U.S. House Resolution 106, recognizing the Armenian genocide, which the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved on October 11, 2007, but which began to lose support after Turkey's prime minister said that approval of the resolution would endanger U.S.–Turkey relations. On March 4, 2010, the House Foreign Affairs Committee again approved the resolution by a 23–22 margin. Immediately, the Turkish government recalled its U.S. ambassador. Schiff said in 2007, "When you think about what we have against us – the president, a foreign policy establishment that has condoned this campaign of denial, the Turkish lobby – against that you have the truth, which is a powerful thing but doesn't always win out". On October 29, 2019, the full House of Representatives passed the resolution by a vote of 405–11. Schiff has an "A+" rating and is endorsed by the Armenian National Committee of America.
Beginning with Representative Howard Berman before Berman was voted out, Schiff worked on the Helicopter Noise Relief Act, a measure to reduce unwanted helicopter noise across Los Angeles County by authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to study and regulate it. After reintroducing his legislation, Schiff worked with Senator Dianne Feinstein to push the FAA to act, and together they attached a provision in the 2014 omnibus appropriations package directing the U.S. secretary of transportation and the FAA to address helicopter noise in Los Angeles County. As a result, in 2015 the FAA created a countywide helicopter noise public complaint system, the first step toward regulation.
Schiff has been a prominent supporter of surveillance reform, especially in the wake of Edward Snowden's leaks of classified intelligence. In 2007, in response to disclosure of the Terrorist Surveillance Program, Schiff and Representative Jeff Flake offered a successful amendment to clarify that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is the exclusive means for collecting foreign intelligence information within the U.S. Schiff criticized the National Security Agency's bulk collection of telephone metadata. In 2014, he introduced the Telephone Metadata Reform Act, which would prohibit the bulk collection of domestic phone records. Schiff also introduced several bills aimed at reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, including a bill to require outside counsel to be appointed to argue for privacy and civil liberties protections in certain cases before the Court.
Nancy Pelosi appointed Schiff to the House Select Committee on Benghazi in 2014 as one of the five Democrats on the committee. He had participated in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence investigation into the attacks on the Benghazi diplomatic compound, which found that the initial talking points the intelligence community provided were flawed but not intended to deceive, and that diplomatic facilities across the world lacked adequate security. The report's findings were unanimous and bipartisan. Before he was appointed to the Benghazi Select Committee, Schiff called the establishment of a select committee to investigate the 2012 attack a "colossal waste of time" and said Democratic leaders should not appoint any members: "I think it's just a tremendous red herring and a waste of taxpayer resources". Despite those reservations, he accepted an appointment to the Committee because if he felt he "could add value, [he] would serve".
In 2006, Schiff formed the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Caucus for the Freedom of the Press, aimed at advancing press freedom around the world. The Caucus proposed the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act, originally introduced to Congress by Schiff, Representative Mike Pence, and Senator Christopher Dodd on October 1, 2009, in response to the murder of Daniel Pearl by terrorists in Pakistan. The legislation requires the United States Department of State to expand its scrutiny of news media intimidation and freedom of the press restrictions during its annual report on human rights in each country. The act passed the House by a vote of 403 to 12 and unanimously in the Senate, but the Senate removed a provision requiring the secretary of state (in coordination with the Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, and in consultation with the Undersecretary for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy) to establish a grant program aiming to promote freedom of the press worldwide. On May 17, 2010, President Barack Obama, accompanied by the Pearl family, signed the act into law.
In 2015, Schiff supported the Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen, saying: "The military action by Saudi Arabia and its partners was necessitated by the illegal action of the Houthi rebels and their Iranian backers. ... But ultimately, a negotiated end to this crisis is the only way to restore order in Yemen and shrink the space for terrorism".
In April 2019, Schiff voted for a bipartisan resolution under the War Powers Act to end U.S. involvement in the war. It passed the Senate, but after passing the House it was vetoed.
After Obama's speech at the National Defense University examining the U.S. war powers during the war on terror, Schiff introduced bipartisan legislation to repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists because he felt that "the current AUMF is outdated and straining at the edges to justify the use of force outside the war theater". The bill, introduced with Representative Tom Rooney, was intended to sunset. Schiff has also been a forceful proponent of debating and voting on a new war authorization against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Schiff has been a supporter of national defense spending, voting for every increase in the defense budget during his career.
In a March 22, 2017, interview with Chuck Todd, Schiff said there was "more than circumstantial evidence now" that Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia. Todd asked whether he had seen direct evidence of collusion and Schiff responded that there was "evidence that is not circumstantial and is very much worthy of investigation".
On April 2, 2017, Schiff, the ranking member on the House Select Intelligence Committee, which is tasked with conducting inquiries related to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, appeared on CNN's State of the Union. In a wide-ranging interview, Schiff and host Jake Tapper discussed Michael Flynn's request for immunity, Schiff's and Devin Nunes's separate inspections of White House documents, Trump's allegations of wiretapping in Trump Tower, and Nunes's apparent close association with the Trump White House. Tapper asked Schiff whether there was evidence that Trump colluded with Russia. Schiff replied: "I don't think we can say anything definitively at this point. We are still at the very early stage of the investigation. The only thing I can say is that it would be irresponsible for us not to get to the bottom of this". Tapper asked, "Do you think that Chairman Nunes was part of an attempt to provide some sort of cover for the president's claim about Obama wiretapping him at Trump Tower, which, obviously, this does not prove, but to cover for that, or an attempt to distract, as you're suggesting?" Schiff replied, "It certainly is an attempt to distract and to hide the origin of the materials, to hide the White House hand. The question is, of course, why? And I think the answer to the question is this effort to point the Congress in other directions, basically say, don't look at me, don't look at Russia, there is nothing to see here". A few days later, Nunes recused himself as leader of the investigative panel while the House Committee on Ethics investigated whether he had disclosed classified information.
On July 23, 2017, on Meet the Press, Schiff said: "at the end of the day we need to make sure that our president is operating not in his personal best interests and not because he's worried about what the Russians might have but because what he is doing is in America's best interest. The fact that we have questions about this is in itself harmful". The next morning on Twitter, Trump called Schiff "Sleazy Adam Schiff, the totally biased Congressman looking into 'Russia'" and called the Russian collusion investigation "the Dem loss excuse". Schiff responded on Twitter that the president's "comments and actions are beneath the dignity of the office".
In December 2018, Schiff suggested that Trump associate Roger Stone might have lied to Congress, and said the transcript of his testimony should be forwarded to the Special Counsel. In November 2019, Stone was convicted of lying to Congress.
When he became chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2019, Schiff embarked on a personal mission to investigate Trump's connections to Russia, separate from the Special Counsel investigation. He came under fire when he demurred when asked if he would accept it if the Special Counsel's investigation concluded that Trump had not colluded with Russia, saying that he had great confidence in Mueller but that "there may be, for example, evidence of collusion or conspiracy that is clear and convincing, but not proof beyond a reasonable doubt", as is needed for a criminal conviction.
On March 28, 2019, the nine Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee officially called for Schiff to resign due to his allegations that Trump's campaign colluded with Russians in the 2016 election. Schiff responded by accusing the Republican members of tolerating "immoral" and "corrupt" conduct by Trump campaign members and administration appointees.
On June 21, 2023, the House of Representatives censured Schiff in a party-line vote on H.Res. 521, which investigated his role as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee in promoting the "conspiracy theory" that Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 United States presidential election. The resolution alleged that Schiff misled the American public with "falsehoods, misrepresentations and abuses of sensitive information" about the election and as part of the first impeachment of Donald Trump. Schiff has denied the allegations, calling them "defamatory".
Schiff called North Korea "one of the most brutal and despotic regimes in the world". After the death of American student Otto Warmbier, who was imprisoned during a visit to North Korea, Schiff said, "The barbaric treatment of Otto Warmbier by the North Korean regime amounts to the murder of a U.S. citizen".
In April 2018, when asked whether he thought Trump deserved at least partial credit for North Korea's involvement in talks with the U.S., Schiff replied: "I think it's more than fair to say that the combination of the president's unpredictability and indeed his bellicosity had something to do with the North Koreans deciding to come to the negotiating table".
Schiff is a supporter of Israel. In December 2016, he urged Obama to veto UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law.
In February 2019, Representative Ilhan Omar tweeted, "It's all about the Benjamins baby" in reference to American politicians' support for Israel and invoked the pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). The tweet received widespread bipartisan condemnation, including from Schiff, for implying that lobby money was fueling American politicians' support of Israel. Schiff said it was "never acceptable to give voice to, or repeat, anti-Semitic smears".
In October 2023, Schiff condemned Hamas's actions during the Gaza war and expressed his support for Israel and its right to self-defense. He rejected calls for a ceasefire but said he supported "humanitarian pauses" to deliver aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The AIPAC-affiliated Super PAC, United Democracy Project, gave $5 million to the pro-Schiff Super PAC Standing Strong during Schiff's 2024 Senate primary campaign, as confirmed by its spokesman, Patrick Dorton. Democratic Majority for Israel's political arm, DMFI PAC, also endorsed Schiff during this campaign.
After news reports that the CIA concluded that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Trump said there was insufficient CIA evidence to link bin Salman to the murder. As the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Schiff was briefed by the CIA on the agency assessment, and said afterward that Trump was being dishonest about the CIA findings.
In 2009, Schiff was appointed and served as an impeachment manager (prosecutor) in the impeachment trial of Judge Samuel B. Kent. He was the lead manager alongside Bob Goodlatte. The next year, Schiff was appointed and served as an impeachment manager in the impeachment trial of Judge Thomas Porteous. He was again the lead manager alongside Goodlatte.
As chair of the Intelligence Committee, Schiff was one of the lead investigators in the impeachment inquiry against Trump stemming from the Trump–Ukraine scandal. Trump was impeached along party lines by 228 votes to 193 in the House on December 18, 2019, making him the third president to be impeached.
On January 15, 2020, House speaker Nancy Pelosi named Schiff a lead impeachment manager. In this role, he led a team of seven House members responsible for presenting the impeachment case against Trump during his Senate trial.
Schiff accused Turkey of inciting the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. He said the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war "must cause us [to] reexamine our relationship with both Turkey and Azerbaijan. If an ally of the United States is recruiting fighters from Syria to encourage further bloodshed and murder of civilians, what kind of ally are they in NATO or otherwise?". Schiff co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stating: "We write to express our deep concern with Azerbaijan's renewed aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and the rising possibility of a wider conflict with Armenia. We ask that the Administration use all available diplomatic tools to reduce tensions, end the fighting, and restrain Azerbaijan from further offensive actions." Schiff called for U.S. recognition of the Republic of Artsakh, which was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the end of a separatist war in 1994. He reiterated that call in April 2023.
On July 1, 2021, Pelosi appointed nine members (seven Democrats and two Republicans) to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol, which included Schiff.
On June 21, 2022, Schiff led Day 4 of the committee's public hearings, which included testimony from three Republican officials to whom Trump reached out after the election: Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, his deputy Gabe Sterling, and Arizona House of Representatives speaker Rusty Bowers. The second half of the hearing focused on Trump supporters' harassment of and threats to Georgia poll worker Wandrea' ArShaye Moss and her family, which led her to quit her job and go into hiding.
Schiff was interviewed after the hearing by reporters and called the testimony "enormously powerful". He added, "The lie lives on, and with it so does the danger."
Schiff supports a ban on stock trading by members of Congress.
