The 220 to 190 party-line vote stands in contrast to a vote in May, when 35 House Republicans joined Democrats to back creation of an independent commission to examine the attack. But while many House Republicans were willing to embrace an outside panel of experts evenly weighted between GOP and Democratic appointees, most were wary of a select committee that would be firmly in the control of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked participants...
Only two of the 211 House Republicans voted in favor of creating the panel — Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), both of whom were among the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach former president Donald Trump in January. The other eight GOP lawmakers voted against forming the select committee on Wednesday. Cheney, who was ousted earlier this year from GOP leadership for criticizing former president Donald Trump over his role in Jan. 6 attack, called the panel “our only remaining option.”
Pelosi (D-Calif.) designed the select committee to have 13 members, only five of whom would be appointed “after consultation with the minority leader,” Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). That means Pelosi will be able to select eight of the panel members herself, including its chairman, and maintain the power to overrule McCarthy for picking anyone Democrats consider objectionable.
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