Lawmakers are campaigning in the House for a chance to sit on the exclusive task force investigating the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
With only seven seats for Republicans and six for Democrats, lawmakers spent Tuesday pitching themselves to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for a seat on the special committee.
“I mentioned that based on qualifications, I think I would be a help for that task force, but there’s a lot of good people,” Rep. Jake Ellzey told NOTUS of what he said to Johnson Tuesday morning after the House GOP’s conference meeting. “A lot of attorneys, a lot of law enforcement folks who do investigations like this too, so I don’t have any expectations for getting on it.”
Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser — one of two representatives at the Butler rally — pointed out that he and Rep. Mike Kelly could bring their firsthand experience to the table.
“I was an eyewitness, and there are many nuances to what occurred that day that I know I could bring to the committee,” he said.
Several Pennsylvania Republicans have told Johnson they want to serve on the task force. Kelly, who represents Butler and was at the rally, sponsored the resolution to create the task force and has been in regular contact with Johnson and Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green. Kelly led Green and a group of Homeland committee members to the Butler fairgrounds on Monday.
“The speaker will decide who’s gonna be on the task force, and whatever he decides, I’m fine with. It’s just that it’s so close to home and a place I lived my whole life, and a place and that will be forever changed; it’ll never be the same,” Kelly said.
Rep. John Joyce, another Pennsylvania Republican, also told Johnson he is interested in a task force spot.
Green is already conducting a review within his own committee, one that he says has the experience that Johnson is looking for.
“The thing about my committee is I’ve got a federal prosecutor, I’ve got a prosecuting DA, I’ve got Dan Bishop, who’s going to soon be an attorney general, I’ve got a sheriff, I’ve got two cops, I mean, I’ve got ex-sniper, Navy SEAL. You got me with Tier One assets,” Green said.
“And I successfully impeached the only sitting cabinet secretary in the history of the country.”
Multiple GOP representatives who spoke to NOTUS about the task force pitched Green to lead the group.
Others had some different names in mind. Meuser told NOTUS he wants Green involved, as well as Oversight Chair Jim Jordan and former Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry.
Perry said he’d be “honored to serve” if approached for the job but said he’s sure that Johnson has “people in mind that he thinks are fully capable.”
Rep. Don Bacon hadn’t spoken to Johnson yet but planned to talk with him soon about the task force, citing his experience investigating accidents while in the Air Force.
“I just want to make sure it’s bipartisan, that it’s a team sport, not like the select committee we had with [Nancy] Pelosi,” he said before taking a swipe at the Jan. 6 Select Committee, Republicans made a concerted effort to delegitimize. “So I want to make sure that on our side, we don’t make it the reverse of the Pelosi Select Commission.”
The task force would only do well with “the right people,” Green said.
Green didn’t expand on who he considered wrong for the committee. Nor did Johnson.
“We need to have persons on this committee who are thoughtful people, who are approaching it in the right way and who have some background and expertise,” Johnson said on Tuesday morning immediately after Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.
However the speaker did issue one warning: “I hope it’s not anyone who brings in any preconceived notions,” he said.
Johnson said he’ll announce the task force members by the end of the week.
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John T. Seward and Katherine Swartz are NOTUS reporters and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.