Liz Cheney backs Pelosi over McCarthy following Jan. 6 committee bombshell

Following House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) bombshell decision to yank his five GOP delegates from the Jan. 6 select committee, committee member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) had some pointed thoughts to share.

When asked whether she believes McCarthy should become House Speaker, Cheney effectively rejected such a notion, replying, "I think that any person who would be third in line to the presidency must demonstrate a commitment to the Constitution and a commitment to the rule of law and Minority Leader McCarthy has not done that."

"At every opportunity, the minority leader has attempted to prevent the American people from understanding what happened, to block this investigation," Cheney also argued.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Wyoming representative, one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) eight picks for the 13-member committee, shared her support for the veto of Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). "[Pelosi] objected to two [of McCarthy's picks], one of whom may well be a material witness to events that led to ... Jan. 6. The other, who disqualified himself by his comments in particular over the last 24 hours demonstrating that he is not taking this seriously," said Cheney, referring to Jordan then Banks. The lawmaker also made sure to note that McCarthy voted against "the very best option" to investigate the events of Jan. 6 — a bipartisan commission.

She went on: "The idea that anybody would be playing politics with an attack on the United States Capitol is despicable and is disgraceful."