House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Monday took aim at Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) for accepting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) offer to join the select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6.
During a visit to the White House, McCarthy was asked about demands from House Republicans to punish Cheney and Kinzinger following their appointments to the committee.
McCarthy replied “we’ll see” before going on to say he is unsure about the last time he spoke to both of them, according to Forbes.
McCarthy then accused Cheney and Kinzinger of being “Pelosi Republicans” for joining the committee, and told reporters that Pelosi’s decision to reject two of his picks for the panel “just makes the whole committee a sham.”
Shortly after McCarthy’s digs at the two Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach former President Trump for “incitement of insurrection,” Cheney told reporters that the House minority leader’s remarks are “pretty childish” and the committee is “serious business.”
Kinzinger also weighed in, according to CNN.
“If the conference decided or if Kevin decides they want to punish Liz Cheney and I for getting to the bottom and telling the truth, I think that probably says more about them than it does for us,” Kinzinger said
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 26, 2021
Although McCarthy floated the possibility of stripping Cheney and Kinzinger of their committee assignments, Pelosi can ultimately reappoint the Republican lawmakers she tapped for the panel to their assigned committees.
McCarthy’s swipes at Cheney and Kinzinger come a week after Pelosi vetoed two of McCarthy’s picks to serve on the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks — Trump loyalists Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jim Jordan (R-OH), both of whom voted to overturn the election results.
After Pelosi yanked two of his picks, McCarthy withdrew all five of his appointees and painted the move as a partisan effort that hurts the former president and the GOP ahead of next year’s midterms.
Last May, Senate Republicans deployed the filibuster to kill the measure that would have established a bipartisan and independent commission that would investigate the events of Jan. 6.
On Sunday, Pelosi announced her appointment of Kinzinger to the committee, making the Illinois Republican the second Republican to join the panel after Cheney.
Watch McCarthy’s remarks below:
At WH, @GOPLeader responded to questions about Jan 6 Commission & criticized @SpeakerPelosi for selecting R members.McCarthy called @RepLizCheney @AdamKinzinger "Pelosi Republicans" pic.twitter.com/Jln7ALAGbq
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) July 26, 2021
