The only appointment anyone is talking about is Liz Cheney whose statement you can read in Ursula Faw’s Liz Cheney Calls McCarthy’s Bluff, Accepts Position on Pelosi’s Select Committee, Says “I’m Honored” But Pelosi also appointed seven Democrats to the Select Committee. They are:
• Chairman: Bennie Thompson (MS-02) current Homeland Security Committee Chairman
• Zoe Lofgren (CA-19) current Administration Committee Chairwoman and House Manager, first Trump impeachment trial
• Adam Schiff (CA-28) current Intelligence Committee Chairman and Lead House Manager, first Trump impeachment trial
• Pete Aguilar (CA-31)
• Stephanie Murphy (FL-07)
• Jamie Raskin (MD-08)
• Elaine Luria (VA-02)
McCarthy has stated that he will not be recommending any Republicans for a position on the committee. On the contrary, he’s threatened to remove all committee assignments from any Republican who accepts an offer from Speaker Pelosi. This tweet sums up the general feeling of Twitter on McCarthy’s statement:
Breaking: McCarthy threatens to strip GOP members of their committee assignments if they accept an offer to serve on the 1/6 commission. “Child sex trafficking and Holocaust denial are one thing,” he said, “but defending our nation’s Capitol will not be tolerated in this party!”
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) July 1, 2021
Illinois Republican Rep Adam Kinzinger’s reaction to McCarthy’s stance was priceless:
“Who gives a s***?” Kinzinger told Forbes, adding, “When you’ve got people who say crazy stuff and you’re not gonna make that threat, but you make that threat to truth-tellers, you’ve lost any credibility.”
Speaker Pelosi’s response to McCarthy’s boycott is also a winner:
I asked Pelosi when the committee will get started and what they would do if McCarthy doesn’t appoint immediately.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 1, 2021
“Well, we have a quorum,” she said with a smile.
Here is Rep Pete Aguilar on Nicole Wallace’s Deadline White House with a cameo by the 8-member committee in their first public appearance together. Already they look like a cohesive group with shared objectives.
Nice!!! This is a topflight group of folks and their work should be above reproach.
McCarthy’s position on this has never made sense, but now it appears to have entered the realm of shoot one’s self in the foot and then piss and moan about it to the entire world.
If I want to spend my time in hell, I will start to care what the devil wants, otherwise , he & his party can take a flying phuck at a rolling doughnut. It would be better if mccarthy’s synapses were not residing on different continents. Oh well.
I have to believe that if a critical timeline is generated from beginning with the gathering of dorks to listen to more bizarre crap from petty mouth Trump, already primed and loaded with weapons of damage to our Capitol, finding all the communications that set things up to do that, a list of names set out in times of day/s a pattern may appear …
Who was involved on a congressional/party level, when did they first know about the plans to attack our Capitol, what was their involvement, when the attack was in process, what role did they play, such as NOT responding in a normal manner, but rather delayed the arrival of reinforcements … People like McCarthy and others don’t want us to know more about the details, which in my mind points to the fact some of them might get charged with the enablers they have always been when it comes to everything Trump …
I so want the whole mess brought out in the details of bright sunlight, I trust these people on the committee to do that and it seems to be scaring some Republicans … Why?
It’s panicking some Republicans because they’re in considerable legal jeopardy. If the parts they played in the Jan 6 insurrection are revealed, they’ll end up being charged, tried, convicted and imprisoned. Among those likely to be in trouble are Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar, Randy Weber, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Louie Gohmert, Steve Scalise, Marge Greene and Lauren Boebert.
For McCarthy – who’s trying desperately to cover for them – multiple criminal charges will not only prove catastrophic for the GOP at the polls in the midterms, it will also sink his ambition to be Speaker someday (thank goodness!).
Is there a limit to how many or who can serve on this committee? I cannot understand why Kinzinger is not also on it. Or any of the other republicans who voted to impeach. Unless they changed their tune-a constant event.
The wording of the House Resolution caps the membership at 13 which was intended to be an 8-5 split between Democrats and Republicans. However, in choosing her eight, Pelosi chose only seven Dems because she wanted to include at least one Republican. This was a clever tactical move on her part. While waiting on McCarthy to decide what he would do, she had a bipartisan committee with a quorum all ready and rarin’ to go while keeping five spots open for McCarthy so he could complain that she’d taken his right to recommend (he has no power to appoint; only Pelosi has that) five Republicans of his choosing.
It might remain an 8-member committee or Pelosi might pin McCarthy down to a definite statement on the record that he has no intention of choosing anyone in which case she can fill the remaining five spots with one more Dem and up to four more Republicans. If she goes that route, I have no doubt whatsoever that Adam Kinzinger will be at the top of her list.
Thanks, Michelle. Great info.
I’m excited that Rep Luria is on the committee. She was one of the races I “adopted” through Pod Save America in 2018. That was a tough fight, and a well-fought win. Before serving in Congress, she was a Naval Commander responsible for maintaining nuclear reactors on combat ships. That’s a job I’m in awe of.
And of course, I’m a fan of Rep Schiff, one district to the north of me. He set an example of mature, firery dissent during the Trump years, and history will remember his honor and dignity in the impeachment proceedings.
As to the commission…I don’t really get the GOP strategy here. Whether Republicans are on there or not, every night the news is going to show people being questioned and discuss these proceedings. They can’t just ignore this issue away. In fact, the proceeding might be even more impactful without any add’l Republicans. Americans will see a mature and respectful panel asking vital questions, rather than Jim Jordan screaming. (My mute key got a lot of testing during impeachment).
Whatever…commission, American Jobs Plan, American Families Plan, For the People Act, John Lewis Act – let’s get em done and call it a productive year.