The House unveiled on Monday the members of the bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month.
Seven Republicans and six Democrats will serve on the panel, which the House approved in a 416-0 vote last week. Many of the lawmakers chosen to be members have military, law enforcement, or prosecutorial experience.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), the lawmaker who represents the district where the rally shooting happened and introduced the resolution to create the task force, has been selected as chairman. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) will serve as ranking member.
The other GOP members will include Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) and Reps. David Joyce (R-OH), Laurel Lee (R-FL), Michael Waltz (R-FL), Clay Higgins (R-LA), and Pat Fallon (TX). And the Democrats will be rounded out by Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).
“We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified, and capable Members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in a joint statement.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who served as chairman of the now-defunct January 6 Committee, was not selected to participate. The conservative House Freedom Caucus specifically demanded Thompson not become a member after he introduced a bill that could strip Trump of Secret Service protection under certain conditions. Thompson reportedly said he had no interest in being on the task force.
According to Johnson’s office, the task force will take over all pending House inquiries into the rally shooting and has subpoena authority. The panel’s goals are to “understand what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination,” “ensure accountability,” and to “prevent such an agency failure from ever happening again.”
The task force will “make recommendations for reform to the relevant government agencies and recommend any necessary legislation to implement the reforms,” Johnson’s office added.
House lawmakers have already begun to look into the attempted assassination of Trump, which resulted in the former president getting wounded by a bullet in his right ear. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were injured. A Secret Service sniper shot and killed the gunman, identified as a 20-year-old man named Thomas Matthew Crooks.
One day after she testified before the House last week, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned as she faced backlash over the security failure underlying the attack. FBI Director Christoper Wray also testified about his agency’s investigation into the shooting.
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The House unveiled on Monday the members of the bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this month.
Seven Republicans and six Democrats will serve on the panel, which the House approved in a 416-0 vote last week. Many of the lawmakers chosen to be members have military, law enforcement, or prosecutorial experience.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), the lawmaker who represents the district where the rally shooting happened and introduced the resolution to create the task force, has been selected as chairman. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) will serve as ranking member.
The other GOP members will include Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) and Reps. David Joyce (R-OH), Laurel Lee (R-FL), Michael Waltz (R-FL), Clay Higgins (R-LA), and Pat Fallon (TX). And the Democrats will be rounded out by Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).
“We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified, and capable Members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in a joint statement.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who served as chairman of the now-defunct January 6 Committee, was not selected to participate. The conservative House Freedom Caucus specifically demanded Thompson not become a member after he introduced a bill that could strip Trump of Secret Service protection under certain conditions. Thompson reportedly said he had no interest in being on the task force.
According to Johnson’s office, the task force will take over all pending House inquiries into the rally shooting and has subpoena authority. The panel’s goals are to “understand what went wrong on the day of the attempted assassination,” “ensure accountability,” and to “prevent such an agency failure from ever happening again.”
The task force will “make recommendations for reform to the relevant government agencies and recommend any necessary legislation to implement the reforms,” Johnson’s office added.
House lawmakers have already begun to look into the attempted assassination of Trump, which resulted in the former president getting wounded by a bullet in his right ear. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were injured. A Secret Service sniper shot and killed the gunman, identified as a 20-year-old man named Thomas Matthew Crooks.
One day after she testified before the House last week, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned as she faced backlash over the security failure underlying the attack. FBI Director Christoper Wray also testified about his agency’s investigation into the shooting.
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