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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy referred to GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger as “Pelosi Republicans” Monday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tapped the two to sit on the select committee investigating the Jan. 6. Capitol riots.
McCarthy (R-Calif.) made the comments as he attended an event marking the 31st anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the Rose Garden.
Asked if he would mete out punishment to Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Cheney (R-Ill.) for accepting seats on the panel, McCarthy said: “We’ll see.”
“Have you spoken with former President [Donald] Trump about what happened with the committee?” reporters asked.
“I don’t talk about January 6th. I spoke to the president,” he said, adding that he “couldn’t tell” when he last spoke to Cheney or Kinzinger.
Pelosi (D-Calif.) named Cheney and Kinzinger to the Jan. 6 panel after she rejected McCarthy’s choices of Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.).
McCarthy said Pelosi’s rejection of Jordan and Banks turns the committee into a “sham.”
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“In the history of Congress, never has a speaker done that. … She’s broken Congress. Then it just makes the whole committee a sham and the outcome predetermined,” McCarthy said.
After Pelosi nixed Jordan and Banks, both of whom are Trump allies, McCarthy withdrew his other choices — Reps. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Kelly Armstrong (R-SD) and Troy Nehls (R-Texas).
Cheney and Kinzinger are the only two Republicans on the panel.
The committee will hold its first hearing Tuesday and is expected to hear testimony from Capitol Police officers about their experiences on Jan. 6.
Asked what he thought of the witnesses, McCarthy replied, “I don’t know.”