Pelosi Proposes Resolution to Create ‘Select Committee’ to Probe Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is seen at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on June 28, 2021. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Monday introduced a resolution that seeks to create a “Select Committee” to look into the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building.

“Sadly, as of last week, there remains no prospect for additional votes from Republican senators to create the National Commission to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol Complex,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“Over the weekend, proposed legislation to establish a Select Committee to investigate the January 6th insurrection was drafted, and it has now been introduced and sent to the Rules Committee,” she said of the new resolution, H. Res. 503 (pdf).

The resolution proposes a committee comprising members appointed by the Speaker, five of whom “shall be appointed after consultation with the minority leader.”

The rule providing for consideration of the resolution will be considered on the House floor on Tuesday, and a debate on the resolution is expected on Wednesday.

Pelosi said that Democrats are “determined to find the truth” about the events of Jan. 6, which she described as “one of the darkest days in our nation’s history.”

“It is imperative that we establish the truth of that day and ensure such an attack cannot again happen,” she said. “The Select Committee will investigate and report upon the facts and causes of the attack and report recommendations for preventing any future assault.”

It comes after Senate Republicans in late May blocked a House-passed bill that would have created a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Unlike the commission, which if it had been approved would have required a report on the events of Jan. 6 by the end of 2021, a select committee does not have a deadline to submit a report.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in late May that the House effort was partisan, and that there were already a number of investigations into the incident, including one by the Department of Justice.

“I do not believe the extraneous ‘commission’ that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing,“ he said at the time. ”Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to.”

James McGovern (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Rules Committee, urged for the passage of the new resolution in a statement on Monday. “Make no mistake—we will get to the bottom of what happened,” he said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters on Wednesday about the action to create a select committee that Pelosi “has played politics on this, time and again.”

“She’s never once talked to me about it. I’ve sent her numerous letters, followed up on them, and she never once wanted to talk to me about it,” McCarthy said at a press conference Wednesday, reported The Washington Times.

“If it’s all political, why would we participate?” he said, reported Politico.

Lawmakers on Jan. 6 gathered at the U.S. Capitol for a joint session of Congress to count and certify electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election. Proceedings in the chambers were interrupted around 2:15 p.m. when a group of rioters led a breach of the Capitol building. Thousands of other protesters, mostly peaceful, remained outside. It remains unclear which individuals or groups instigated the breach. By 6 p.m. that day, officials declared the building had been secured.

Congressional proceedings continued and lawmakers in the early hours of Jan. 7 certified the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden.

Five deaths were recorded in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 incident.

Of the deaths, Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt died after being shot by police for climbing through a smashed window deeper into the Capitol building. Her death has been ruled as a homicide.

Capitol officer Brian Sicknick was determined to have died of natural causes, despite the U.S. Capitol Police initially claiming that his death was from injuries sustained during riots.

Another three people died outside the Capitol building but on Capitol grounds. Two of the deaths were found to be from natural causes—both were men in their 50s who died of hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The remaining death of a woman in her 30s was from a drug overdose ruled as an accident.