House GOP moves to establish long-delayed Jan. 6 committee

The Hill

4 days ago

House Republicans are moving to create a long-delayed select subcommittee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack — more than six months after it was initially announced.
A resolution to create the subcommittee was filed on Wednesday, GOP leaders tell The Hill, after months of it being put on the backburner and lawmakers hashing out disputes over how much the panel would be authorized to investigate.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), who is leading the effort, got direct support from President Trump in pushing to finally create the committee, The Hill has learned.
It will still be weeks before the committee is established. With the House heading out of town over the August recess, a vote on the resolution to create the select committee is not expected until the chamber returns in September. As a select subcommittee, all the members will be subject to the approval of the Speaker.
The select subcommittee will be tucked under the House Judiciary Committee and chaired by Loudermilk, who led probes into Jan. 6 matters in the last Congress under the banner of the House Administration Committee's subcommittee on oversight.
Loudermilk's previous investigations included the Capitol security posture, as well as the activities of the Democratic-led Jan. 6 committee established after Trump supporters stormed the building in support of his fraud claims.
'House Republicans are proud of our work so far in exposing the false narratives peddled by the politically motivated January 6 Select Committee during the 117th Congress, but there is clearly more work to be done,' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a statement first shared with The Hill. 'The resolution introduced today will establish this Select Subcommittee so we can continue our efforts to uncover the full truth that is owed to the American people. House Republicans remain intent on delivering the answers that House Democrats skipped over.'
Loudermilk had secured a commitment to lead a select subcommittee to further investigate Jan. 6 issues in this Congress, and Johnson announced the panel in January.
But months went by and no committee was established, frustrating Loudermilk. Matters from a government shutdown deadline to the crafting of Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' took precedence.
There were also disputes about what the legislative jurisdiction of the panel would be, with Loudermilk wanting to carry on all the lines of inquiry from his previous probes and being dismayed by the Speaker's office originally pitching a plan that would limit the jurisdiction to that of the House Judiciary Committee.
Those jurisdictional issues were resolved, a source told The Hill. The panel has the Judiciary Committee's broad scope over law enforcement and more when investigating matters related to Jan. 6 — as well as a commitment from chairmen from other areas of jurisdiction and the White House to green-light probes into any other lines of inquiry. That could include more investigation into the original Democratic-controlled Jan. 6 panel.
Loudermilk will also have full subpoena power.
The panel will have eight members, three of whom will be members appointed by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) subject to the Speaker's approval. It is instructed to release a final report by Dec. 31, 2026.
Loudermilk said in a statement that while his previous probes 'uncovered that what happened at the Capitol that day was the result of a series of intelligence, security, and leadership failures at multiple levels within numerous entities,' there is 'still much work to be done.'
'It is vital that we continue to uncover the facts and begin the task of making needed reforms to ensure this level of security failure may never happen again,' Loudermilk said.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) took a swipe at the previous Democratic-led Jan. 6 committee while commending Loudermilk.
'The partisan January 6 Committee failed to uncover crucial pieces of information for the American people, and Rep. Loudermilk has been the leader in getting to the bottom of the Democrat-run Committee's failures. Rep. Loudermilk will continue to work tirelessly to get everyone the truth,' Jordan said in a statement.
The Democrats' previous Jan. 6 panel drew Trump's ire — and its members, which included now-Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), received a preemptive pardon from former President Biden on his last day in office amid threats of prosecution.
Loudermilk and Jordan both have some personal beef with the original Jan. 6 committee. Jordan refused to comply with a subpoena it issued him, arguing it was not a legitimate inquiry. And the panel asked the Georgia lawmaker to appear voluntarily to explain a tour he gave in the Capitol complex on Jan. 5, 2021 — a request he said was meant to push a 'false narrative.'
Loudermilk's previous panel released an 'interim report' in December 2024 that recommended a criminal investigation into Cheney, accusing her of witness tampering by being in touch with star hearing witness Cassidy Hutchinson.