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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy withdrew all six GOP lawmakers from Democrats’ new select committee on economic disparities after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of his picks to serve on the Jan. 6 commission, The Post has confirmed.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told The Post that McCarthy (R-Calif.) withdrew his Republican members from the House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth last Wednesday, the same day that Pelosi (D-Calif.) blocked two of his GOP selections to serve on the panel investigating the Capitol riot.
Reached for comment on the matter, McCarthy spokesman Matt Sparks confirmed to The Post that they pulled their members from the economic panel at the same time as the Jan. 6 select committee.
“That’s what we did at the time. We pulled them from immediate consideration. That’s not to say we won’t name [members to the inequality committee] in the future. We might,” Sparks said.
When Pelosi rejected two of McCarthy’s picks for the Capitol riot commission, however, Sparks said the GOP leader opted to put a “hold” on his picks for the other committee.
“Obviously, the speaker has shown she is only interested in establishing select committees that further her political agenda,” he added.
The six members McCarthy withdrew are Reps. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).
Attempts at probing all aspects of the Jan. 6 riot in a bipartisan way — from Capitol security failings to former President Donald Trump’s role in the incident — failed to pass in this divided Congress.
Originally, House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who is also chairing the select committee investigating the riot, struck a deal with Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member John Katko (R-NY) on a bipartisan commission to investigate the attack in mid-May.
McCarthy and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) came out against the compromise commission, however, after Trump lashed out at the idea in a statement.
Democrats led by Pelosi then pursued creating their own select committee — minus many of the previous requirements ensuring fairness.
The new select committee also gave Pelosi the power to reject McCarthy’s GOP appointments to the panel, which she did for Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), saying she was concerned about the “integrity” of the probe in light of comments and actions the two Republicans made about Jan. 6.
Jordan, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Banks, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, have remained two of Trump’s top defenders in Congress.
McCarthy ultimately opted to pull all five of his selections from the panel, vowing Republicans would launch their own investigation of the deadly riot instead.
Republicans have accused Pelosi of politicizing the investigation, but she claimed last week that her commission is “not even bipartisan, it’s nonpartisan,” adding that it is about “seeking the truth.”
She cited Rep. Liz Cheney’s participation in the committee while pushing back against the partisanship claims — but the Wyoming Republican is a former member of House GOP leadership who was ousted as the No. 3 Republican in the House over her criticisms of Trump, and her vote to impeach him over the riot.
Pelosi’s only other GOP selection for the panel is Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a staunch Trump critic.
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