The presence of Republicans on a committee formed by Democrats in the US House of Representatives to investigate the attack on the Congress building once again ignited partisan tensions.
The Committee to Investigate the Attack on the US Capitol’s House of Representatives on Thursday turned the tide in the US House of Representatives.
According to Hill News, the verbal altercation escalated after Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said he would not allow the two Republican lawmakers to enter a special committee to investigate last year’s attack on the Congress building.
Pelosi said Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, among five lawmakers nominated by Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, are both supporters of former President Donald Trump, and the integrity of the investigation is being undermined.
McCarthy immediately held private meetings with the five Republican members of the House of Representatives and then returned to the floor, threatening Pelosi that if Jordan and Banks were removed from the committee, all Republican options would leave.
“Pelosi has discredited the institution,” the senior Republican lawmaker told reporters after the meeting. This is an abuse of power. “There is no denying that the committee has lost its credibility and legitimacy.”
However, Liz Cheney, a staunch opponent of Trump and the only Republican on the committee, said he supported the presence of another Republican, Adam Kinzinger, in the House committee.
Pelosi told a news conference that he would consider adding more Republicans opposed to Trump to the committee.
The speaker added that the committee would continue to function despite the Republicans’ blockades and boycotts.
The committee was formed by Democrats in the House of Representatives after an attempt by Republicans to pass the bill failed.
U.S. experts say a new committee in the House of Representatives has the power to summon individuals to comment on the January 6 incident and will likely summon Trump as a witness.
On January 6, the US Congress was counting the votes of the Electoral College to approve the results of the November 3 presidential election, which Trump called on his supporters to hold a so-called peaceful demonstration after several US lawmakers protested the Arizona vote.
Trump supporters, however, attacked Congress in large numbers and, after clashing with security forces, made their way into the building and its various rooms. Five people, including a policeman, were killed in the attack.
Earlier, the congressional chief of police said they did not even know if they were allowed to use deadly force against the attackers, citing internal challenges faced by security officials on the day Trump supporters attacked the building.
The attack by Trump supporters on the US Congress building marked his second congressional impeachment. However, Trump’s trial in the US Senate was opposed by Republicans and failed.
Today (Thursday), Trump reiterated his claim that the November 2020 presidential election was rigged, saying that in such circumstances, Mike Pence should have defended the US Constitution.