[ad_1]
When Congress reconvened following the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, Democratic President Nancy Pelosi and rank member of the Republican House administration committee Rodney Davis met in the chamber and agreed that Congress should call for a bipartisan inquiry into the unprecedented events of that day.
More than six months later, House lawmakers will launch an investigation into the riots that sparked a partisan battle that now threatens any future cooperation between the two sides.
“This is a sham committee that is only politically led by President Pelosi,” Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, said Thursday.
Last week, Pelosi took the unprecedented step of blocking two of McCarthy’s appointees from a 13-member select committee that appears to focus on the roles of then-President Donald Trump and other Republicans before and during the attack on the Capitol.
Citing earlier statements made by Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana, Pelosi said the two Republican lawmakers would destroy the integrity of the committee.
“When the statements are ridiculous and fall into the realm of ‘you must be kidding’, there’s no way they’re part of the committee,” Pelosi said Thursday.
The move to ban Banks (who was chosen to be the GOP’s lead lawmaker on the riot panel) and Jordan from participating in enraged Republicans, who historically control those appointed to committee seats nominated by the GOP, and that amplified the already high tension between the two of the evenings.
Earlier this year, Democrats took another unprecedented step and removed Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s commission duties on social media posts aimed at Democrats the Georgia Republican made before her election to Congress.
Pelosi rocked GOP lawmakers earlier this year by installing metal detectors on chamber doors at the behest of fearful Democrats and fining lawmakers who do not wear masks in the chamber.
Republican lawmakers who circumvented the new security measures or were caught without a mask have been fined thousands of dollars.
“I didn’t think things could get more partisan in the House than they already were,” a senior Republican official told the Washington Examiner. “But President Pelosi’s decision to remove Republicans from the Jan. 6 commission just took things to a whole new level. When Republicans take the house back, expect endless retaliation. “
Republicans are a few seats away from reclaiming a majority and believe they can reclaim the hammer in the 2022 midterm election.
McCarthy, angered by Pelosi’s decision to overturn it on Jordan and Banks, spoke of using his power as Speaker of the House, if the GOP wins a majority next year, to “decide who sits in each. committee, “said a source familiar with McCarthy’s comments. the Washington Examiner. “The Democrats would not have a say.”
While McCarthy is likely to calm down before the GOP’s first opportunity to grab the hammer in January 2023, Republican lawmakers would likely be eager to target the committee missions of prominent Israeli critic and Democrat Ilhan Omar, who has tweeted. anti-Semitic and recently equated US military action in Afghanistan with Hamas and Taliban terrorist groups.
If the Republicans have a majority, they could act like the Democrats did to impeach Greene and retaliate by voting to remove Omar from his posts on the Foreign Affairs and Education and Workforce Committees.
Republicans believe Democrats will arm the riot panel to taint the GOP ahead of the election.
Democrats have previously accused Republicans of aiding rioters and linked them to Trump’s claim that the election was rigged in favor of President Joe Biden, which they say prompted protesters to take assault the Capitol.
Democrats say the GOP essentially approves Trump’s request by declining to participate in their investigation.
Pelosi took a political blow to the GOP by nominating Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney to one of eight seats designated for Democrats on the panel. Cheney is a fierce critic of Trump, and she publicly blamed him for causing the riot. Cheney also disagrees with McCarthy, who helped oust her from the GOP’s No.3 leadership position in May.
Cheney’s appointment allows Democrats to promote the panel and its findings as bipartisan while also stirring up discord within the GOP and deepening their adversarial relationship with Trump.
Pelosi could further fuel those flames by adding to the panel Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who also disagrees with McCarthy and is an outspoken critic of Trump, a Democratic aide told the Washington Examiner.
McCarthy withdrew the five lawmakers he appointed to the committee and announced the GOP will launch its own riot investigation that will examine the lack of security that allowed protesters to overwhelm police and storm the Capitol. while the House and Senate were in session certifying the results of the 2020 elections.
McCarthy this week attacked Pelosi as a “lame speaker” who is causing permanent damage to the institution by breaking decades of tradition by blocking his committee appointments.
Pelosi essentially ghost McCarthy, refusing to recognize him by name when reporters asked about the GOP’s alternative investigation into the riot.
“I’m not talking about him,” Pelosi said. “Let’s not waste each other’s time. “
Pelosi blocked Jordan and Banks a day after Banks informed panel chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, that he planned to call a senior Capitol Police union official who had criticized the breaches as a witness. to building security on the day of the riot. Banks and Jordan had both publicly criticized the committee and the motives behind it.
“They knew Jim Jordan and I would ask the tough questions they didn’t want answered about the systemic security failure on Capitol Hill on January 6, and ultimately, who is responsible for that, the Speaker of the House,” Banks said. at Fox News.
McCarthy told reporters earlier this month that he believes the investigation should focus on Capitol Hill’s lack of preparation for protesters and Pelosi’s own guilt.
“Why wasn’t the National Guard here? McCarthy asked at a recent press conference. “There are a lot of questions as to why this decision was made. “
Republicans have not announced when they will launch their own investigation.
Members of the Conservative House Freedom Caucus sent a letter to McCarthy on Friday asking him to use his authority as minority leader to present a privileged resolution to impeach Pelosi.
“President Pelosi is not interested in representative democracy, let alone the protection of institutional standards,” the Freedom Caucus wrote to McCarthy. “Republicans, under your leadership, must show the American people that we will act to protect our ability to represent their interests. “
McCarthy is unlikely to bring up the resolution, and Democrats would easily beat it if he did.
Pelosi’s spokesperson has yet to provide the Washington Examiner with a response to the Freedom Caucus’ request for his dismissal.
Washington Examiner Videos
Keywords: News, Congress, Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Ilhan Omar, United States Capitol, Riots
Original author: Susan ferrechio
Original location: ‘Expect endless retaliation’: House riot committee sparks partisan war
[ad_2]
Source link