The January 6th Committee has a main purpose: to investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol. It is also referred to as the “Select Committee.” There are several members of the U.S. House of Representatives on the January 6th Committee.
The Chairperson of the January 6th Committee is Representative Bennie G. Thompson. He represents Mississippi’s 2nd District. He is a member of the Democratic party. As Chairperson, he has the responsibility of selecting people will be part of the January 6th Committee as Senior Staff.
Here are some things Rep. Bennie G. Thompson is known for: (Wikipedia)
First Democrat and the first African American to chair the Committee on Homeland Security from 2007 – 2011).
Used his position on the Homeland Security Committee to advocate for the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in 2005.
A founding member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Majority Members of the January 6th Committee:
Rep. Zoe Lofgren
Zoe Lofgren is a member of the Democratic party. She represents California’s 19th District.
Here are some things Rep. Zoe Lofgren is known for: (Heavy)
As a law student in 1974, Zoe Lofgren worked on Congressman Edwards’ staff. She helped the committee draft up the charges against President Richard Nixon during Watergate.
Member of the House Judiciary Committee in 1988 during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, when he was accused of lying about having an affair with a White House intern.
Zoe Lofgren is known for her work on patent reform, copyright issues, digital rights, and net neutrality. She successfully fought to initiate the “e-rate” that provides affordable internet access for schools, libraries, and rural health centers, and she is the author of legislation that would allow the unlocking of cellular phones and other digital devices to give owners more control over their devices. She led a bipartisan effort in the House to decontrol encryption technology. (Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s website)
Rep. Elaine Luria
Elaine Luria is a member of the Democratic party. She represents Virginia’s 2nd District.
Here are some things Rep. Elaine Luria is known for: (Rep. Elaine Luria’s website)
Prior to her election in 2018, Elaine Luria served two decades in the Navy, retiring at the rank of Commander. Rep. Luria served at sea on six ships as a nuclear-trained Surface Warfare Officer, deployed to the Middle East and Western Pacific, and culminated her Navy career by commanding a combat-ready unit of 400 sailors.
Vice Chair of the House Armed Services Committee and a member the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Rep Luria was one of the first women in the Navy’s nuclear power program and among the first women to serve the entirety of her career in combatant ships.
She serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where she is the committee’s Vice Chair, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, where she serves as the Chair of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, and the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Rep. Adam Schiff
Adam Schiff is a member of the Democratic party. He represents California’s 28th District.
Here are some things Rep. Adam Schiff is known for: (Wikipedia and Rep. Adam Schiff’s website)
In 2014, Nancy Pelosi appointed Adam Schiff to the House Select Committee on Benghazi as one of the five Democrats on the Committee. He had participated in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence investigation into the attacks on the Behghazi diplomatic compound, which found that the initial talking points the intelligence community provided were flawed but not intended to deceive, and that diplomatic facilities across the world lacked adequate security. The report’s findings were unanimous and bipartisan… (Wikipedia)
On November 12, 2019, Rep. Adam Schiff released his opening statement for House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence’s first open hearing as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Donald J. Trump. It is very long. Here is an important piece from the opening statement:
…These actions will force Congress to consider, as it did with President Nixon, whether Trump’s obstruction of the constitutional duties of Congress constitute additional grounds for impeachment. If the President can simply refuse all oversight, particluarly in the context of an impeachment proceeding, the balance of power between our two branches of government will be irrevocably altered. That is not what the Founders intended. And the prospects for further corruption and abuse of power, in this administration or another, will be exponentially increased…
Rep. Adam Schiff
Trump was impeached along party lines by 228 votes to 193 in the House on December 18, 2019, making him the third president to be impeached. (Wikipedia)
Rep. Pete Aguilar
Pete Aguilar is a member of the Democratic party. He represents California’s 31st District.
Here are some things Rep. Pete Aguilar is known for: (Wikipedia and Rep. Pete Aguilar’s website)
During the Obama Administration, Aquilar supported expanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for undocumented children and creating the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. (Wikipedia)
Rep. Pete Aguilar is the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus and the highest-ranking Latino in Congress. (Wikipedia) He is also a Member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition. He also serves on the House Appropriation’s Committee. (Rep. Pete Aguilar’s website)
On June 18, 2020, Rep. Pete Aguilar posted a press release titled: “Aguilar Issues Statement On Supreme Court DACA Ruling”. From the statement:
“The Supreme Court’s decision today is a welcome relief to the thousands of Dreamers throughout the country whose futures were thrown into jeopardy by the Trump Administration’s cruel and arbitrary decision to end DACA. But we cannot allow this temporary victory to make us complacent. Today’s decision makes clear that Congress must press forward to establish a permanent path to citizenship for immigrant youth immediately to prevent the Trump Administration from continuing to target the immigrant community with its radical anti-immigrant agenda.
There are thousands of young immigrants who are frontline health care workers, business owners, first responders, students and military service members; they deserve to know that they have a future here. Our goal should continue to be comprehensive immigration reform to fix the broken systems that have led us here, but the Senate should act now and take up the Dream and Promise Act to codify protections for Dreamers and for the thousands of young immigrants who are living, working and raising families in the United States.”
Rep. Pete Aguilar
Rep. Stephanie Murphy
Rep. Stephanie Murphy is a member of the Democratic party. She represents Florida’s 7th District.
Here are some things Rep. Stephanie Murphy is known for: (Wikipedia and Rep. Stephanie Murphy’s website)
Rep. Stephanie Murphy is the first Vietnamese-American woman and the second Vietnamese-American overall (after Republican Joseph Cao of Louisiana) to be elected to Congress. Before becoming a member of Congress, Stephanie Murphy worked as a national security specialist at the United States Department of Defense. (Wikipedia)
Rep. Stephanie Murphy currently serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, where she is a member of the Subcommittee on Trade and the Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support. She also serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where she is vice chair of the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations and is a member of the Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (Rep. Stephanie Murphy’s website).
On October 21, 2021, Rep. Murphy, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colorado), and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) introduced bipartisan legislation to limit domestic terrorists from holding security clearances. The No Clearance for Domestic Terrorists Act (H.R. 5513) amends the guidelines under the National Security Act for what may disqualify an individual from having a security clearance to include whether they have been involved in, supported, trained to commit, or advocated an act of domestic terrorism. (Rep. Stephanie Murphy’s website).
Rep. Jamie Raskin
Rep. Jamie Raskin is a member of the Democratic party. He represents Maryland’s 8th District.
Here are some things Rep. Jamie Raskin is known for: (Wikipedia and Rep. Jamie Raskin’s website)
This is Rep. Jamie Raskin’s third term serving on the House Judiciary Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Committee on House Administration. This is his second term serving on the Rules Committee and the Coronavirus Select Subcommittee. He was also renamed Chair of the Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Chair of the Rules Subcommittee on Expedited Procedures for the 117th Congress. (Rep. Jamie Raskin’s website)
On January 11, 2021, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Rep David N. Cicilline (Rhode Island District 1) and Rep. Ted Lieu (California District 33) introduced an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The impeachment resolution is sponsored by Cicilline, with Lieu and Raskin serving as the two lead co-sponsors. It is also co-sponsored by another 211 members of the U.S. House.
Here is a quote from the members who serve on the Judiciary Committee:
Last Wednesday marked one of the darkest days in the history of our country. After months of agitation and propaganda against the results of the 2020 election, the United States Capitol – the citadel of our democracy – was attacked as President Trump’s supporters attempted to stage a coup and overturn the results of our free and fair presidential election,” said the members, who serve together on the House Judiciary Committee. “We cannot allow this unprecedented provocation to go unanswered. Everyone involved in this assault must be held accountable, beginning with the man most responsible for it – President Donald Trump. We cannot begin to heal the soul of this country without first delivering swift justice to all its enemies – foreign and domestic.
Members of the Judiciary Committee
On January 12, 2021, Rep. Jamie Raskin was named the lead impeachment manager for the Senate trial during the second impeachment of then-President Trump. He was the primary author of the impeachment article, along with Representatives David Cicilline and Ted Lieu, which charged Trump with inciting an insurrection on the United States Capitol. (Wikipedia)
Minority Members of the January 6th Committee
Rep. Liz Cheney
Rep. Liz Cheney is a Republican. She represents the state of Wyoming.
Here are some things Rep. Liz Cheney is known for: (Wikipedia and Rep. Liz Cheney’s website)
Liz Cheney is one of the daughters of former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Second Lady Lynne Cheney. Liz Cheney’s younger sister is Mary Cheney (who married her wife, Heather Poe, in 1992). (All the links in there go to relevant Wikipedia pages).
Previous to becoming Representative for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district in 2017, Liz Cheney was deputy assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs in the George W. Bush administration, and chaired the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in the House Republican leadership, from 2019-2021. (Wikipedia) She also serves on the House Armed Services Committee. (Rep. Liz Cheney’s website)
On January 14, 2021, NPR posted an article titled: “These are the 10 Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Trump”. From the article:
…Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyoming’s at-large district: Trump won Wyoming 70% to 27%, and she’s the third-ranking leader in the House. So for her not just to vote in favor of impeachment but also issue a stinging rebuke is quite the step. Cheney was unequivocal in her statement, saying Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.” She called what Trump did the “greatest betrayal” of a U.S. president ever.
NPR
Rep. Adam Kinzinger
Rep. Adam Kinzinger is a Republican. He represents Illinois District 16.
Here are some things Rep. Adam Kinzinger is known for: (Wikipedia and Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s website)
Rep. Adam Kinzinger joined the United States Air Force. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in November 2003 and later awarded his pilot wings. He has served in the Air Force Special Operations, Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, and Air National Guard. (Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s website)
At the age of 42, Rep. Kinzinger is one of the youngest Members of Congress, yet he ranks in the top half of seniority in the full House of Representatives. He was named ‘A Republican Role Model for 2017’ by the Washington Post and is frequently applauded for his pragmatic approach to the myriad of issues facing America, and the world. (Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s website)
After Republican President Donald Trump was defeated in the 2020 presidential election, Kinzinger became known for his vocal opposition to Trump’s claims of voter fraud and attempts to overturn the results. Kinzinger was one of 10 republicans who voted to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection in his second impeachment, and was one of only two Republicans to vote to create a select committee to investigate the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he was subsequently appointed to. (Wikipedia)
Why are there so few Republicans on the January 6th Committee?
One of the reasons has to do with House Rules. According to the House of Representatives website, they use a concept called Majority Rules. It is explained this way: The makeup of the Rules Committee has traditionally been weighted in favor of the majority party, and has been in its current configuration of 9 majority and 4 minority members since the late 1970s. (House of Representatives website).
In this situation, “majority” means the Representatives who belong to the party that is currently in power. “Minority” means the Representatives who belong to the party who is not currently in power. It has nothing to do with a Representative’s race, gender, or religion.
There are seven members of the January 6th Committee who are from the Democratic party (two less than they the nine that could participate). There are two members who are from the Republican party (two less than the four that could participate). Why did this happen? If I had to guess, I would presume that there were not very many Republicans who wanted to take part in the January 6th Committee.
Representatives on the January 6th Committee is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.