House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that he is not supportive of the bipartisan agreement reached to form a “9/11-style” commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — slamming Democrats for not negotiating “in good faith” and failing to propose “an unbiased premise from which to begin.”
The California Republican — one of former President Trump’s most vocal defenders in the House — accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi of refusing to “negotiate in good faith on basic parameters,” in a statement alleging that Democrats have failed to agree on “fair representation and an unbiased premise from which to begin such an investigation,” which were “always understood to be the starting point for bipartisan negotiations.”
A bipartisan agreement was struck between House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Ranking Member John Katko (R-N.Y.) last week, with Katko telling The Post that he was “very pleased that this is going to be a very fair and balanced commission, and that’s what I sought to establish and I’m pleased that Chairman Thompson saw it the same way.”
Despite the parameters of the agreement of the commission providing equal representation for both parties, McCarthy argued that Pelosi “wasted time playing political games” and allowed other government agencies to “pick up the slack.”
McCarthy argued that the Department of Justice has already made 445 arrests following the breach on the Capitol, with 100 more to follow, while the FBI has been investigating the crimes committed by pro-Trump rioters who stormed the building in an attempt to disrupt the certification of the election.
“Unfortunately, the legislation being considered in the House this week is drafted in such a way that could interfere with and ultimately undermine these ongoing prosecutorial efforts – just one byproduct of a process that circumvents committee markup and is expected to come to the House Floor under a closed rule,” McCarthy said in a statement.
Republicans have been split on the scope of the commission, with some — including Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — arguing it should solely focus on the riot on the Capitol, while McCarthy has pushed for a broader investigation into political violence.
McCarthy blasted Democrats for opting not to include language in their proposal to probe Antifa and the riots that took place across the country in response to police brutality, as well as the congressional baseball shooting where GOP lawmakers were targeted in 2017.
“The presence of this political violence in American society cannot be tolerated and it cannot be overlooked. I have communicated this to our Democrat colleagues for months and its omission is deeply concerning,” McCarthy said.
“Given the political misdirections that have marred this process, given the now duplicative and potentially counterproductive nature of this effort, and given the Speaker’s shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation,” McCarthy said.
Some GOP lawmakers said they would consider supporting the measure if it’s amended to expand the issues being looked into.
“I think we have a few members, trying to bring some additional amendments to the Rules Committee to broaden the scope, to look at a number of other things that right now are not specifically included in there. And I think the Rules Committee meets later today. I want to see if they’re open to getting those problems fixed,” Minority Whip Steve Scalise said Tuesday.
Pelosi blasted McCarthy for his lack of support, arguing he is undermining their Congress’ to find out critical information.
“I’m very pleased that we have a bipartisan bill to come to the floor and it’s disappointing but not surprising that the cowardice on the part of some on the Republican side not to want to find that truth,” she told reporters.
The bill to approve the commission is not being whipped by Republicans in the lower chamber, with some lawmakers describing it as a “vote of conscience.”
The measure is expected to pass with some bipartisan support on Wednesday, but it remains unclear whether it will garner enough bipartisan support to pass the upper chamber.