After remaining tight-lipped about whether he will appoint Republicans to the House select committee probing the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is reportedly slated to name five House Republican men to the panel.
According to Politico, McCarthy ultimately decided on appointing congressmen who have experience in committee leadership and oversight. McCarthy’s appointees to the select committee are led by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), who serves as chair of the Republican Study Committee, as the ranking member of the panel.
Reps. Rodney Davis (R-IL), the top Republican on the House Administration Committee; Jim Jordan (R-OH), the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee; Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), who served on the House Judiciary Committee during the Donald Trump’s first impeachment; and Troy Nehls (R-TX), a former sheriff who helped Capitol police hold back insurrectionists during the Jan. 6 attack have reportedly been appointed by McCarthy to serve on the select committee.
Three out of five of McCarthy’s picks — Banks, Jordan and Nehls — voted to challenge election results in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Arizona.
McCarthy’s reported selections for the select committee comes on the heels of chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) announcing the panel’s list of witnesses for its first hearing scheduled next week, which include officers from both the U.S. Capitol Police Department and Metropolitan Police Department.
Earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) — who currently serves on the House Armed Services Committee, and was ousted as the No. 3 Republican earlier this year after she vehemently refused to do Trump’s bidding of pushing the big lie of a stolen election — will serve as a member of the select committee.
In addition to Thompson and Cheney, Pelosi appointed Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Pete Aguilar (D-CA), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Elaine Lurie (D-VA) as members of the select committee.
Late last month, the House passed legislation in a near party-line vote to set up the panel. Reps. Cheney and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), both of whom are outspoken critics of Trump and voted to impeach him for “incitement of insurrection,” were the only Republicans who voted to approve the measure.
Following the House vote, McCarthy reportedly threatened during a meeting with freshmen members of his caucus that he would revoke committee assignments from any Republican member if they accepted an offer from Pelosi to join the select committee.
The resolution for the select committee dictated that Pelosi would appoint all 13 members, but would consult with McCarthy on five of them. Pelosi can block any of McCarthy’s picks for the select committee.
The select committee’s formation comes after Senate Republicans used the filibuster to tank legislation that would have established an independent, bipartisan commission to probe the Capitol insurrection.
