House votes to launch new probe of Jan. 6 Capitol siege
WASHINGTON — Split along party lines, the House launched a new investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection Wednesday, approving a special committee to probe the violent attack as police officers who were injured fighting former President Donald Trump’s supporters watched from the gallery above.
The vote to form the panel was 222-190, with Republicans objecting that majority Democrats would be in charge. The action came after Senate Republicans blocked creation of an independent commission that would have been evenly split between the two parties.
Emphasizing the importance that Democrats attached to the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told lawmakers in the chamber: “We will be judged by future generations as to how we value our democracy.”
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who lost her position in GOP leadership because of her criticism of Trump, was one of only two Republicans to vote for the panel. She declared, “Our nation, and the families of the brave law enforcement officers who were injured defending us or died following the attack, deserve answers.”
But Ohio Republican Brad Wenstrup rejected the new probe as “incomplete and insufficient” because it would not look into other incidents including the 2017 shooting at a baseball field that badly injured GOP Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana.
Pelosi, D-Calif., said she preferred that an independent panel lead the inquiry but Congress could wait no longer to begin a deeper look at the insurrection that was the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years.
Tensions have worsened in Congress since Trump’s supporters laid siege, aiming to stop Congress’ certification of Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden. A brief sense of shared outrage has given way to partisan politics and attempts among some Republicans to downplay the events of the day. Most Republicans have made clear they want to move on from the insurrection — and Trump’s role — though many of them had fled the violent mob themselves.
Democrats expressed frustration with those
Republicans who have complained that the investigation would be partisan after their party blocked the bipartisan panel.
“I think for some on the other side, nothing that gets to the truth will ever be good enough, because they do not want the truth,” said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern, who led the debate ahead of the vote.
The panel would be led by Democrats, with Pelosi appointing a chairperson and at least eight of the committee’s 13 members. The resolution gives her a possible say in the appointment of the other five members as well, directing that they will be named “after consultation” with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy. In a memo to all House Republicans late Tuesday, No. 2 House Republican Scalise urged his members to vote against the resolution, saying the committee “is likely to pursue a partisan agenda.”
Maryland Democratic Reps. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Kweisi Mfume, John Sarbanes, Anthony Brown, Steny Hoyer, David Trone and Jamie Raskin all voted for the select committee. Rep. Andy Harris, the state delegation’s only Republican, voted against it.