House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is threatening to strip committee assignments from any member of his caucus who agrees to serve on a Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, according to a report Thursday morning from CNN.
"This is directed at (GOP Reps.) Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, two Republicans who voted for this House Select Committee," CNN reporter Jessica Dean said. "It remains to be seen what Cheney and Kinzinger will do, and the question also remains, will Speaker Pelosi appoint a Republican?
"The takeaway is that the House minority leader has told all Republicans that if they agree to serve on this commission looking into what happened here, what transpired during a deadly insurrection on Jan. 6, that they will be removed from their committees. That's quite a statement. ... He clearly does not want any participation."
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said McCarthy's threat is "only the beginning of the obstruction this committee is going to face."
Toobin said one of the lessons the Trump administration learned is they can obstruct Congress, forcing Democrats to go to court, which he called "a slow boat to nowhere."
"It's not just that the Republicans will refuse to participate in the organization of the committee," Toobin said. "The committee itself will be faced with no cooperation from anyone who served in the Trump administration."