McCarthy derides Kinzinger and Cheney as "Pelosi Republicans"
Washington — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy mocked Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger Monday as "Pelosi Republicans" Monday over their appointment to the select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol assault.
A small number of Republicans are pushing for Cheney and Kinzinger to be punished for agreeing to serve on the select committee, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of McCarthy's picks for the committee and McCarthy in turn said no Republicans would serve on the committee if all five of the men he chose could not. Pelosi then selected Cheney and Kinzinger to join Democrats on the committee.
McCarthy made the comments to reporters ahead of an event in the White House Rose Garden. Asked if the two Republicans will face consequences for serving on the select committee, McCarthy responded, "We'll see."
Pelosi dismissed McCarthy's shot at the two outspoken Republicans.
"I don't care what he said," she told CBS News.
The GOP infighting comes the day before the committee holds its first hearing, when four law enforcement officers will testify about what they saw when rioters stormed the Capitol following then-President Trump's rally.
Kinzinger and Cheney, both of whom voted to impeach the former president, have been the most vocal Republican critics of the former president and have pushed for an investigation into the events surrounding January 6.
Last week, McCarthy said Republicans will hold their own investigation, although it's not clear what that will entail.
"We will run our own investigation," the GOP leader said during a Wednesday news conference.
Just a few days after January 6, McCarthy said the then-president "bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters." Now, some Republicans, including McCarthy, fear a select committee run by Pelosi will become too political. But in May, Republicans shot down a commission deal brokered by a Republican that would have given Republicans and Democrats equal subpoena power.
Nikole Killion contributed to this report.
