AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
- The House Freedom Caucus called on Kevin McCarthy to force a vote to oust Nancy Pelosi as speaker.
- Pelosi has rejected Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan being a part of a Jan. 6 select committee.
- Conservatives are upset by what they describe as Pelosi’s “authoritarian reign” of the House.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
The House Freedom Caucus on Friday called on GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to force a floor vote to oust Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi from her position after she rejected two Republicans who were tapped to serve on the Jan. 6 select committee.
In a letter, the group, which is composed of some of the most conservative members of the House, asked McCarthy to bring up a privileged motion by July 31 in order “to vacate the chair and end Nancy Pelosi’s authoritarian reign as Speaker of the House.”
“Speaker Pelosi’s tenure is destroying the House of Representatives and our ability to faithfully represent the people we are here to serve,” they wrote. “Republicans, under your leadership, must show the American people that we will act to protect our ability to represent their interests.”
The group also alleged that Pelosi “has no interest in representative democracy” and lamented proxy voting and the installation of metal detectors to access the House floor.
With Democrats in control of the House, the motion is virtually guaranteed to fail. However, the episode exposes the simmering tensions that have erupted at the Capitol since Jan. 6, as well as the political angst of Republicans as they look to regain a House majority in the 2022 midterm elections.
-House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) July 23, 2021
Last week, Pelosi rejected the selection of Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio to the committee investigating the Capitol riot, citing “concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members.”
Banks and Jordan are both staunch allies of former President Donald Trump, who was impeached by the House in January for “incitement of insurrection” over his role in the riot. The two men also voted to challenge President Joe Biden’s Electoral College certification, but Pelosi said that the vote did not drive her decision to boot them from the committee.
“Of the three [McCarthy picks] that I appointed, one of them voted against the ratification and the other two voted for it,” she said last week. “Having said that, though, the other two [Jordan and Banks] made statements and took actions that just made it ridiculous to put them on such a committee seeking the truth.”
After Pelosi’s move, McCarthy said that he would pull every Republican member from the committee and pursue a separate Jan. 6 investigation.
However, on Sunday, Pelosi announced that she planned to add GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois to the Jan. 6 committee – he has sought to reorient the party away from Trump.
GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who was booted from her leadership role as House Republican Conference Chair over her criticism of Trump, will also be on the committee.
Pelosi indicated that she could back the appointments of McCarthy’s other committee picks, which included GOP Reps. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, and Troy Nehls of Texas.
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