Pelosi rejects 2 of McCarthy's GOP picks for January 6 committee over 'unprecedented nature' of Capitol attack

• Pelosi announced she's rejecting two of McCarthy's picks for the January 6 committee.
• The House speaker said she will not accept his recommendations of Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan.
• "The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision," Pelosi said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday announced she's rejecting two of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's picks for the House select committee to investigate the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

Pelosi said she could not accept McCarthy's recommendations of GOP Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio.

"With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee," Pelosi said in a statement.

"The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision," the House Speaker added.

Responding to the announcement, the House GOP leader said he will pull all five of his recommendations if Pelosi does not reverse course.

-Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) July 21, 2021

After McCarthy tapped Banks to be the ranking member on the committee, the Indiana Republican released a statement attacking its goals.

"If Democrats were serious about investigating political violence, this committee would be studying not only the January 6 riot at the Capitol, but also the hundreds of violent political riots last summer when many more innocent Americans and law-enforcement officers were attacked," Banks said.

"Make no mistake, Nancy Pelosi created this committee solely to malign conservatives and to justify the Left's authoritarian agenda," he added.

McCarthy also recommended Republican Reps. Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong, and Troy Nehls. All five of McCarthy's picks voted against impeachment President Donald Trump for provoking the deadly January 6 riot.

In her statement, Pelosi said she'd informed McCarthy she was "prepared to appoint Representatives Rodney Davis, Kelly Armstrong and Troy Nehls, and requested that he recommend two other Members."

Banks, Jordan, and Nehls voted against certifying President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory on the day of the insurrection.

Trump's rejection of the 2020 election results, which was over baseless allegations of mass voter fraud, was at the heart of what caused the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6. The Republican objections to certification amplified Trump's groundless assertions about the election results.

Four out of five of McCarthy's picks - excluding Davis - also voted against the formation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection. After Senate Republicans blocked the bill to establish an independent commission, the House voted in favor of legislation to set up the select committee.

Pelosi earlier this month appointed GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the fatal January 6 insurrection, to the committee. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi is set to chair the panel.