During the House Republican leadership’s weekly meeting Monday, Speaker Mike Johnson and his aides made one fact very clear: He intends to fill his slots on the commission to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump with serious lawmakers, not headline chasers.
The future of the panel depends on that.
House Democratic leaders have signaled that they are likely to join the committee if Johnson appoints sober, fact-seeking Republicans.
The House is slated to vote to create the panel later this week. The resolution, authored by Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Mike Kelly, mandates an 11-person panel. That means that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries can choose five Democrats to serve along with six Republicans, but Johnson gets effective veto power over Jeffries’ selections.
Johnson and Jeffries spoke by phone Monday evening about the task force, which would have full subpoena power.
Kelly seems likely to get a seat on the committee since it’s his resolution. House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) is interested in chairing the panel, as are Reps. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), who was at the Trump rally, and Dan Bishop (R-N.C.). Bishop is running for attorney general of North Carolina.
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas) pitched himself to Johnson personally, making the case that his military background and seat on the House Oversight Committee would make him well-suited for the post.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), meanwhile, said he communicated to GOP leadership that he’d be “be happy to go do it, if that’s helpful.”
Other names mentioned by GOP leadership insiders include Reps. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio.), Jerry Carl (R-Ala.) and Jake Ellzey (R-Texas).
Democrats are still sorting through potential candidates. But one name we’ve heard is Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). Thompson is the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security panel and chaired the Jan. 6 Committee.
Cheatle news: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) filed a privileged resolution Monday night to impeach Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle over the security failures in the run-up to the Trump campaign rally. Republican leaders now have two legislative days to schedule a floor vote on the matter.
This comes after the disastrous House Oversight Committee hearing Monday, where Cheatle struggled to answer questions about how a would-be assassin was able to come within inches of killing a presidential candidate.
So far, Cheatle has resisted growing calls for her to resign. But given the bipartisan fury over the security failures, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some Democrats support Mace’s impeachment resolution. That would make Cheatle’s position politically impossible.
