What’s next for the Jan. 6 committee?
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is pulling his five Republican members selected to join the House committee that’s investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to reject two of McCarthy’s picks.
The committee will have Republican representation from one member: Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, an outspoken critic of former President Trump who was one of Pelosi’s eight choices to serve on the committee. Still, the refusal by the leader of House Republicans to participate is sure to inject even more partisanship into the already high-profile committee.
“Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts,” McCarthy said.
How we got here: Earlier Wednesday, Pelosi announced she was vetoing the appointment of two Republicans who objected to the certification of the November election, Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana, to the House select committee. Pelosi said in a statement she was accepting three of the five Republicans named by McCarthy earlier this week.
“With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” Pelosi said. “The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision.”
Pelosi said she approved of the appointments of Reps. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota and Troy Nehls of Texas. Banks, Jordan and Nehls all objected to the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
Jordan has been a loyal ally of former President Trump and an attack dog in Congress, who was added to the House Intelligence Committee in 2019 ahead of the committee’s public impeachment hearings. Banks is chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee.
Some more background: Since his appointment, Jordan had been voicing his concerns that the committee was going to be too focused on Trump and even telegraphed targeting Pelosi as the investigation wore on.
“There’s one fundamental question that I hope Democrats will actually answer and address and that is why wasn’t there a proper security presence that day? And frankly, only the speaker can answer that question, so let’s see if the Democrats bring that up,” Jordan said Tuesday.
Earlier this week, Pelosi told CNN that whether an individual voted to certify the election would not determine if she approved them for the committee.
“Let me be clear, how people voted on affirming the election of Joe Biden is not a criterion for service. That doesn’t matter,” Pelosi said. But she wouldn’t elaborate on what she is weighing in her decision-making.
In announcing her rejection of Banks and Jordan, Pelosi mentioned there were “objections” with their selections but did not specify what those objections were.
Based on how the committee was created, Pelosi is able to appoint eight members to the commission and McCarthy has five slots “in consultation” with Pelosi – meaning the speaker had the option to veto his selections.
