WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the next step Thursday into investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol when she named members of the committee that will look into what happened.
"This is a serious responsibility," Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., said.
The Virginia congresswoman is one of the seven Democrats selected to lead the House investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“We will be closer to the truth," Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday when she announced the committee appointments.
Pelosi named Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson as the committee’s chair. He said it’s time to get answers.
“We have to get to the bottom of finding out all the things that went wrong on Jan. 6,” Rep. Thompson said.
The House voted to create the select panel this week with just two Republicans supporting it. One of them, Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, was elected by Pelosi to serve on the committee.
It's a move House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy of California called unprecedented.
"I was shocked that she would accept something from Speaker Pelosi," McCarthy said. "It would seem to me, since I didn't hear from her, maybe she's closer to her than us."
Most Republicans oppose the committee. They said there are already ongoing FBI and Department of Justice investigations.
"This investigation that the speaker is doing is something that is more politically driven than actually getting down to the root cause," Rep. Fred Keller, a Pennsylvania Republican, said.
But Democrats, like Florida's Val Demings, call the other party's reasoning nonsense.
"I am not sure what's going on with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle - they are failing this country,” Rep. Demings said.
Up to 13 members can be appointed to the committee. Work could start as soon as lawmakers return from the July 4 recess.
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