Dave Forman, outgoing chairman of the Hawaii panel, said the Bush administration appears to be "sweeping the committees clean and putting new folks in."

"It's pretty clear that they have an agenda that they are pursuing," Forman said. "I think there's reason to be concerned."

"I want people with open minds," Pilla said. "We've had right-wingers on committees in the past, but I can't put (together) a committee that's gonna have too many of these guys."

Pilla, who is retiring, said he would leave it up to whomever takes over his office to make a decision about the candidates.