So far, the 13-member lineup of the select panel that will investigate the January 6 insurrection has yet to be completed. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy recently said he has yet to decide which members to nominate for the panel.
Speaking on Fox News, McCarthy said that he has yet to make a decision as well as to appoint the five Republicans who will serve on the select committee that will probe the riots. Eight members have already been appointed by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, made up of seven Democrats and one Republican. It should be noted that only two House Republicans voted in favor of the select committee following a failed attempt to pass the bipartisan proposal in the Senate.
“I haven’t made a decision yet, even to appoint,” said McCarthy in the interview. “I’m discussing it with my members. I have a real concern, the scope of what we’re looking at.”
It should also be noted that McCarthy’s picks among his caucus to fill the remaining five spots may be vetoed by Pelosi, who still has the final say on who he should nominate. McCarthy noted that the bipartisan Senate report on the insurrection raised more questions. The House Republican Leader also accused Pelosi of playing politics with the select committee, describing the panel so far as an impeachment team than a panel that would investigate the events.
Among the Democrats that have been nominated to the committee are California Rep. Adam Schiff and Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin. Both Schiff and Raskin led the House Impeachment team during both impeachment trials of now-former President Donald Trump.
McCarthy would be put under pressure from both naming the Republicans to serve on the panel and his knowledge of the insurrection. According to California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, McCarthy is not expected to cooperate in testifying in front of the select committee should the time come.
When pressed on what McCarthy might do should he be presented with a subpoena to appear before the panel, Swalwell said the Republican Rep. would “be a weasel, that’s what he always does.”
“We considered this during impeachment. We learned that McCarthy had a sense of what Donald Trump’s state of mind was on Jan. 6 when he was complaining that McCarthy didn’t do enough to defend him,” said the Democratic Rep.