Pelosi Declares One Party State

One of the foundational principles of our constitutional republic is respect for the rights of the political minority: A party or faction that is out of power in the legislative branch still

manages its own affairs, elects its own leadership, and appoints its share of members to committees.

This principle has held true even when the majority party had evidence that the minority party was leaking classified information from national security-related committees, e.g., Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff’s behavior when he was Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence when Republican Rep. Devin Nunes was Chairman.

Without the right to appoint minority party members, there can be no meaningful opposition to the majority party, however, reducing Republicans to vassal status is exactly what Pelosi did yesterday. In what amounts to the declaration of a one-party state, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi rejected Republican appointments to her new select committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol riot.

In a statement released Wednesday Pelosi said, “Monday evening, the Minority Leader recommended 5 Members to serve on the Select Committee. I have spoken with him this morning about the objections raised about Representatives Jim Banks and Jim Jordan and the impact their appointments may have on the integrity of the investigation. I also informed him that I was prepared to appoint Representatives Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong and Troy Nehls, and requested that he recommend two other Members.”

Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy quickly issued a rebuttal: "Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts," McCarthy said.

The committee will have “Republican” representation from one member: RINO Trump critic Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Pelosi’s decision to exclude Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Jim Banks is preposterous on its face: Jordan is Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee and Banks is chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, so they both hold senior and prestigious positions in the House Republican Conference.

However, since McCarthy announced his proposed membership, Jordan had been voicing his concerns that the committee was going to be too focused on Trump and even telegraphed targeting Pelosi as the investigation wore on.

"There's one fundamental question that I hope Democrats will actually answer and address and that is why wasn't there a proper security presence that day? And frankly, only the speaker can answer that question, so let's see if the Democrats bring that up," Jordan said Tuesday.

Banks, who would have served as the GOP's ranking member on the committee, says he would “force the Democrats and the media to answer questions so far ignored.”

The group of five GOP representatives selected by McCarthy also want to focus on the Capitol's lack of preparedness for the riot that day and, more broadly, rising political violence nationwide, reported the UK’s Daily Mail.

While Pelosi had said earlier that how Republicans voted on the election certification was irrelevant to whether they could be appointed, in rejecting Jordan and Banks Pelosi made this interesting comment reported by CNN: “In announcing her rejection of Banks and Jordan, Pelosi mentioned there were ‘objections’ with their selections but did not specify what those objections were.”

The obvious answer to the question “what those objections were” is that Democrats object to both Banks and Jordan because they aren’t buying the narrative that former President Donald Trump incited the January 6 riot and even more threateningly, they are not going to shy away from asking the most important and fundamental questions, such as: Why were the Capitol Police so ill prepared and why was the Capitol virtually undefended, given the intelligence available at the time? Who were the black-clad team who first broke into the Capitol? Who did Speaker Pelosi communicate with during and before the riot? And did someone order Capitol Police to fire on Ashli Babbitt and if so who gave the order?

The toll-free Capitol Switchboard is (1-866-220-0044) please call Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, thank him for standing up to Pelosi’s declaration of a one-party state and tell him conservatives are counting on him to continue to stand tall.

• January 6

• January 6 detainees

• Merrick Garland

• Donald Trump

• January 6 Committee

• Nancy Pelosi

• Republican appointments

• Liz Cheney

• Jim Jordan

• Jim Banks

• Rodney Davis

• Kelly Armstrong

• Troy Nehls

• Police preparation