In a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Friday members of the House Freedom Caucus is demanding that he force a vote on the House floor next week to remove Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as Speaker of the House for rejecting two of his picks for the select committee to investigate Jan. 6.
“We, the House Freedom Caucus, respectfully request that you … bring up a privileged motion by July 31, 2021 to vacate the chair and Nancy Pelosi’s authoritarian reign as Speaker of the House,” the Freedom Caucus wrote to McCarthy, according to The Hill.
Earlier this week Speaker Pelosi vetoed two of McCarthy’s picks to join a select committee to investigate Jan. 6: Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)– the founding chairman of the Freedom Caucus. Both are die hard Trump loyalists who voted to overturn the results of the election and released statements after their appointment to the committee signalling their intent to not take the investigation seriously.
McCarthy responded by pulling all five of his recommendations from the panel.
“Less easily reversible” than proxy voting and metal detectors “is the damage done to the institution by the Leadership of one party dictating the ability of members of another party to serve in roles at the discretion of their own conference. That abuse cannot go unchecked,” the letter said. “Speaker Pelosi’s refusal to seat Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Jim Banks on the Select Committee to Investigate January 6 is intolerable. … Republicans under your leadership must show the American people that we will act to protect our ability to represent their interests.”
Such a vote will fail in the House where Democrats are in the majority. But, this request puts McCarthy in a tight spot as he needs the members of the House Freedom Caucus to support his bid to become Speaker if Republicans retake control of the House after the 2022 midterms.
The Freedom Caucus blocked McCarthy from becoming Speaker in 2015 when John Boehner resigned.
