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 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.
“Who is that? Adam and Liz? Aren’t they kind of like Pelosi Republicans?” McCarthy told reporters pelting him with questions about the appointments.
Asked if he would mete out punishment to Kinzinger and Cheney 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.
McCarthy said Pelosi’s rejecting Jordan and Banks turns the committee into a “sham.”
“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.
Both Cheney and Kinzinger called McCarthy’s remarks “childish.”
“I think that’s pretty childish,” Cheney told reporters at the Capitol when asked about the “Pelosi Republicans” remark.
“We’re doing big things right now. We’re getting to the answers of the worst attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812. He can call me any names he wants,” Kinzinger said. “I’m a Republican. Kevin McCarthy is technically my Republican leader. And to call, you know, members of Congress by childish names like Donald Trump used to do, I guess it’s just kind of par [for the course].”
After Pelosi pulled Jordan and Banks, both of whom are Trump allies, McCarthy withdrew his other choices – Reps. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelly Armstrong of South Dakota and Troy Nehls of Texas.
Cheney and Kinzinger are the only two Republicans on the panel.
The committee will hold its first hearing on Tuesday and is expected to listen to testimony from Capitol Police officers about their experiences on Jan. 6.
Asked what he thought of the witnesses, McCarthy replied, “I don’t know.”
With Post wires
