Two lone Republican members of Congress broke ranks Wednesday and voted in favor of creating a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WI) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), critics of former President Donald Trump, were the only two members of their party to support the creation of the investigative committee. More Republicans had voted in favor of overturning the 2020 presidential election results in January. Nonetheless, the creation of the committee passed the House of Representatives with a 222 to 190 vote along party lines. The panel will have subpoena power, meaning it will be able to legally compel lawmakers and others to give testimony, and there is no firm deadline for the panel to publish its findings. House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on the floor of the chamber, “We have a duty to the Constitution and to the American people to find the truth of Jan. 6 and to ensure that such an assault on our Democracy can never happen again.” A measure that would have created a similar bipartisan committee passed a vote in the House but failed in the Senate due to Republican opposition in May. House Republican leaders, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), have not indicated whether they will participate in the House panel’s investigation, though McCarthy has the opportunity to appoint five members to the 13-person panel; Pelosi will wield eight picks.
