Pelosi appoints Kinzinger to the 6 January select committee
The investigation into the attack on Capitol Hill will be led by a panel including two sitting Republicans after Kinzinger joined Rep. Liz Cheney in accepting Pelosi's offer.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger will be on the House select committee investigating the 6 January attack on the Capitol after accepting an invitation from Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The vocal Republican will join eight Democrats and GOP Rep. Liz Cheney on the panel.
On Sunday Pelosi announced her intention to appoint Kinzinger to the committee in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, after it had previously been reported that the critic of former President Donald Trump was being considered for the role.
He is just the second Republican to be named on the panel after House Minority Speaker Kevin McCarthy withdrew his other five nominees earlier this week.
Pelosi picks Kinzinger to replace withdrawn Republicans
The Democrats had hoped to implement a bipartisan investigation into the events leading up to the 6 January insurrection but after Senate Republicans blocked that attempt, they moved forward with a select committee. The rules of the committee stated that the Democrats could name eight members and the Republicans five; although the final decision on nominees would be left to Pelosi.
Earlier this week she decided to reject the nominations of Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio due to their persistent attempts to overturn the election results, something considered crucial in the event of 6 January. In announcing the decision, Pelosi said: “We have to again ignore the antics of those who do not want to find the truth.”
After informing McCarthy of her decision, the Republican leader opted to withdraw his other three selections: Reps. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota and freshman Troy Nehls of Texas. Kinzinger will bring the total number on the panel up to nine, but it appears unlikely that the remaining four spaces will be filled.
Kinzinger says he is happy to ‘answer his duty’
After accepting the offer from Pelosi to sit on the select committee he released a short statement on his Twitter account saying that he felt it was his duty to take part in proceedings: “I’m a Republican dedicated to conservative values, but I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution – and while this is not the position I expected to be in or sought out, when duty calls, I will always answer.”
A long-time critic of Trump, Kinzinger has been at odds with the bulk of the Republican Party for his condemnation of the former President’s role in the insurrection. He was one of just ten GOP representatives who voted to impeach Trump earlier this year and has maintained that he is to blame for the violence.
Confirming his intentions the day before the impeachment vote, Kinzinger issued a statement reading: "There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection. He used his position in the Executive to attack the Legislative."