Pelosi targeting GOP's Adam Kinzinger for spot on Jan. 6 committee
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday's edition of ABC News' This Week told George Stephanopoulos that she plans to speak with Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), in the hopes of adding them to the Jan. 6 select committee after she vetoed two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's recommendations — Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.) — because, in Pelosi's words, they would "jeopardize the integrity of the election."
Kinzinger has developed a reputation as a harsh critic of former President Donald Trump this past year, so it's possible McCarthy and others in the GOP will take his potential inclusion on the committee as a sign that Pelosi is trying to create an unbalanced panel, especially because he'd be teaming up with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who isn't too popular with her fellow Republicans these days.
But The Bulwark's Amanda Carpenter argued labeling Kinzinger and Cheney as "anti-Trump Republicans" is shortsighted, regardless of whether the moniker is being cast by someone on the left or the right. Aside from the fact that both lawmakers voted for Trump in 2020, Carpenter believes "it plays into Trump's false narrative that people are ... 'out to get' Trump rather than justifiably [hold] people accountable."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
Their stance on Jan. 6 is "about principles. Not people," Carpenter tweeted. Bill Kristol agreed, writing that Kinzinger and Cheney are "pro-truth, pro-accountability, pro-democracy Republicans" who "won't whitewash January 6."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
‘No one is exempt from responsibility, and especially not elite sport circuits’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Businesses are caught in the middle of ICE activitiesIn the Spotlight Many companies are being forced to choose a side in the ICE debate
-
Leadership: A conspicuous silence from CEOsFeature CEOs were more vocal during Trump’s first term
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
