Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will huddle with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in New Jersey, saying there is “much to discuss.”
The get-together in Bedminster comes as the California Republican leader mulls over whether to appoint GOP members to the special committee tasked with investigating the events of the January 6 clash at the Capitol that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ushered through the lower chamber with the help of a couple of Republicans — Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
Mr. McCarthy’s relationship with Mr. Trump has been under intense scrutiny since a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to protest the results of the 2020 election. The 56-year-old minority leader is well-positioned to be the next speaker if the GOP flips the House next year, and is betting he is better off trying to keep Mr. Trump in his corner.
Mr. McCarthy played a lead role in torpedoing a proposed bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. He cited other congressional investigations into the day’s events and called for the probe to be expanded to include other instances of violence around the country. Mr. Trump has fiercely opposed the commission and slammed the “wayward” Republicans who backed the proposal.
Mr. McCarthy, meanwhile, has been mum about whether he plans to appoint Republicans to the new Jan. 6 select committee, which has subpoena power and is supposed to be composed of 13 members: eight of them tapped by Ms. Pelosi and five by Mr. McCarthy.
The Pelosi appointments included Ms. Cheney. She was ousted from her post as chair of the House Republican Conference this year after she refused to dial down her criticism of Mr. Trump and his role in inciting the Jan. 6 events.
Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Trump rallied against Ms. Cheney and paved the way for Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York to replace her as the third-ranking House Republican.
House Democrats on the select committee are plowing ahead with or without Republicans.
They have scheduled their first hearing for July 27 and plan to take testimony from District of Columbia and Capitol Police officers, some of whom have been vocal critics of the GOP’s response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Mr. McCarthy’s campaign announced this week that he raised more than $43 million in the first half of 2021, a massive fundraising haul.
They said he has passed along $15 million to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for House Republicans, and state parties, and has given another $6.8 million to GOP incumbents.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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