There are plans to appoint a select committee to investigate the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol after Senate Republicans blocked the creation of an independent commission to probe the insurrection.
The decision to appoint a select committee to investigate the attack means that House Democrats will channel their various efforts examining the events surrounding January 6 into one place. It was one of several options Pelosi had been considering after Senate Republicans filibustered legislation creating an independent commission that had passed in the House.
Trump’s role of inciting comments about the presidential election in the lead-up to the January 6 attack is sure to be a focus of the select panel, and the committee could look into actions of some House members, too.
For several months after January 6, there have been an insisting for an independent panel modeled after the 9/11 Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding the attack on the Capitol, in which rioters breached the building and forced lawmakers to evacuate in the midst of certifying Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.
The leaders of the House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and ranking Republican John Katko of New York, struck a deal last month to create an independent panel. But GOP leaders balked. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky came out against the agreement, arguing that there were already sufficient investigations between congressional committees and the Justice Department and that the commission would be slanted toward Democrats. The 2022 midterm elections also loomed over the politics surrounding a commission.
Republicans will have to decide who will take the top GOP slot on the select committee, where they will play a role in hearings and other steps the committee takes. McCarthy could appoint Katko, a moderate, or he may opt for someone like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a firebrand and staunch Trump supporter.
