House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the membership of the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo, an outspoken Republican critic of former President Donald Trump.

What You Need To Know

  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the membership of the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol

  • Pelosi named Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoken Trump Critic, to the committee

  • Cheney was one of two Republicans to vote in favor of the measure to create the committee on Wednesday

  • House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., can appoint five members to the committee in consultation with Pelosi; McCarthy had threatened to strip Republicans of committee assignments if they accept an appointment from Pelosi to join the committee, a top House GOP aide said Thursday

In a statement, Cheney said that she is "honored" to serve on the committee, adding: "Congress is obligated to conduct a full investigation of the most serious attack on our Capitol since 1814."

Cheney, who was removed from her leadership role in May for her outspoken criticism of the 45th president, was one of two Republicans to vote in favor of the measure to create the committee on Wednesday. The other was Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, another Trump critic.

The effort to create a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the attack by a mob of pro-Trump supporters was blocked by Senate Republicans in May.

Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the lead Democratic neogitator on the agreement to form the bipartisan, independent commission, will chair the committee.

New York Rep. John Katko, who voted to impeach Trump and was the lead GOP negotiator on the bipartisan, independent commission, voted against the select committee Wednesday, saying that "Pelosi's proposal to create a partisan committee of politicians to investigate the events of January 6th will not be viewed as credible by at least half of Americans, nor will it honestly look at her own failures in securing the U.S. Capitol on that day."

Other members named by Pelosi include:

  • Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
  • Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla. 
  • Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.
  • Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
  • Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
  • Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Texas

"We will have a full accounting of that deadly day," Rep. Schiff said. "American people deserve nothing less than the full truth.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., can appoint five members to the committee in consultation with Pelosi, but has not announced who he will name to the panel.

At a press conference Thursday, McCarthy said that he was "shocked" that Cheney accepted the position on the committee, adding: "Maybe she’s closer to her than us."

McCarthy had threatened to strip Republicans of committee assignments if they accept an appointment from Pelosi to join the committee, a top House GOP aide said Thursday. The news was first reported by Punchbowl News.

The warning by McCarthy, R-Calif., underscores party leaders’ opposition to the committee and their desire to shape the narrative about its work as much as they can. Republicans have complained that the panel will be dominated by Democrats and will produce a skewed, partisan report, even though the GOP previously scuttled an earlier Democratic attempt to form a bipartisan commission.

McCarthy told a closed-door meeting of first-term House GOP members on Wednesday that he, not Pelosi controls Republicans’ committee assignments, the aide said. He told them that if Pelosi names them to the committee and they accept, they should plan on getting all their committee assignments from her — an apparent threat to remove them from their current panels.

The Republican leader said Thursady that he is "not threatening anybody with committee assignments."

"I don't know in history where someone would go get their committee assignments from the Speaker and expect to have them from the conference as well," he added.

In response to McCarthy's committee remarks, Rep. Kinzinger told reporters, "Who gives a s***?"

"When you've got people that say crazy stuff and you're not gonna make that threat, to make the threat the truth tellers, you've lost, you know any credibility and then so that's all I'm gonna say on it," Kinzinger added.

Pelosi had the authority to appoint a chairperson and at least eight of the 13 members. The resolution gives her a possible say in the appointment of the other five members as well, directing that they will be named “after consultation” with McCarthy.

GOP leaders have not indicated whether or not Republicans will participate in the panel.

"When I have news on that I'll give it to you," McCarthy told reporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.