McCarthy likely to publicly name members to January 6 committee soon

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is expected to publicly name Republican members to the January 6th select committee soon.

McCarthy's office did not provide the exact date of his announcement or confirm names of the members he might appoint to fill the five open spots on the 13-member committee.

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the new GOP conference chair, and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio are potential choices, according to a congressional source.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced 8 members of the select committee last week, including Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney. The select committee was formed after the legislation establishing a bipartisan January 6 commission failed to advance in the 50-50 Senate.

Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is leading the select committee, said he will make sure the committee operates according to specific rules and regulations.

"We are not interested in people who are distracters in doing the work," he said. "We can differ, but there's a process. I would hope Leader McCarthy gives members on this committee the respect they are due by putting people on there who want to find out what really happened on January 6 rather than put people on there who are denying that anything occurred." 

Thompson was asked on MSNBC if he is concerned about the possibility of conservative GOP lawmakers, such as Jordan, spreading "conspiracy theories" about Black Lives Matter after being named to the committee.

"I'm not worried about it happening," he said. "If those individuals raise the issues, we have a process by which we go through. None of the information we have gleaned thus far indicate that Black Lives Matter or Antifa was involved in the activities of January 6. If those individuals have information, then they need to present it."

Thompson said the committee will have the "best investigators" and it will "do whatever we need to do to get to the facts" during the process.

"We will have a budget," he said. "We will be able to hire staff, and we will follow the information."

Last week, McCarthy said he was "shocked" to learn that Cheney accepted a spot on the select committee from Pelosi.

"I was shocked that she would accept something from Speaker Pelosi," McCarthy said at news conference last Thursday. "It would seem to me, since I didn't hear from her, maybe she's closer to her than us."