The House passed the resolution to set up a Jan. 6 select committee Wednesday on a near party-line 222-190 vote.
Only two Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), joined the Democrats.
“It is right to be wary of an overtly partisan inquiry,” Cheney wrote in a statement released just before the vote. “But Congress is obligated to conduct a full investigation of the most serious attack on our Capitol since 1814.”
“I believe this select committee is our only remaining option,” she added.
When the House voted in May on the independent commission, drawn up by a bipartisan team of representatives, 35 Republicans crossed Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and voted in favor of the bill. It then died in the Senate at the hands of a GOP filibuster.
This time around, Republicans started orienting themselves against the idea of a select committee pretty much immediately. Left with few other bipartisan options, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced last week that she’d go the select committee route. The legislation forming the committee only had to pass through the House. The committee will be populated by lawmakers.
“Senate Republicans did Mitch McConnell a ‘personal favor’ rather than their patriotic duty and voted against the bipartisan commission negotiated by Democrats and Republicans,” she said in a Monday press release. “But Democrats are determined to find the truth.”
The resolution dropped on Monday, outlining the contours of the committee. Pelosi will appoint all 13 members, though she’ll consult with McCarthy on five of them. A senior Democratic aide confirmed to TPM that Pelosi has the power to reject any of McCarthy’s selections. The chair of the committee will have unilateral subpoena power.
There is no due date for the committee’s report, though the resolution encouraged interim reports “from time to time.”
Now, all eyes will be on the committee member selections. Pelosi is reportedly mulling choosing a Republican herself, while McCarthy has been mum on his intentions. Some GOP firebrands, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have been promoting themselves for the gig.
