Poli Alert Political & Civics
Related Articles
The House is set to vote Wednesday afternoon on creating a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced the resolution to create the select committee earlier this week after efforts for a bipartisan special commission on the ransacking of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob was blocked in the Senate by Republicans.
Pelosi said House Democrats’ unilateral move forward is necessary because “there remains no prospect for additional votes from Republican Senators to create the National Commission to Investigate the January 6th Attack.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday he hopes the members of the committee will “pursue the truth, not pretend that this was some visit by tourists from somewhere out in the in the country coming to Washington to say hi and see their government in action.”
“It was exactly the opposite,” Hoyer added. “It was a violent insurrection mob that tried to stop democracy from working.”
Republican leadership, meanwhile, is asking its members to oppose the select committee resolution.
“This select committee is likely to pursue a partisan agenda to politicize the January 6th attack instead of conducting a good faith investigative effort into the actions leading up to and the security failures of the 6th,” the office of Minority Whip Steve Scalise said Tuesday.
Under the resolution, there will be thirteen members of the committee. Pelosi will appoint eight members to the committee and House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy will appoint five — Pelosi has veto power over every appointment to the panel.
Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone and Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn responded to the attacks on January 6. The two officers met with McCarthy on Friday to advocate for the special committee.
Senator Mitt Romney is also pushing McCarthy to vote in favor of the proposal.
“I hope he appoints people who are seen as being credible,” Romney said.
The resolution is likely to pass among party lines with as few as a handful of Republicans breaking rank to join Democrats.
