Republican Representative Barry Loudermilk of
Georgia revealed that House Speaker Mike Johnson has promised him that his ongoing inquiry into the events of January 6 will be formalized as a new committee. This is a move that aligns with broader Republican plans to continue the investigations that were initially launched during the previous Congress.
Loudermilk, who has been involved in investigating the Capitol attack, shared with CNN that while the exact structure of the new committee is still being worked out, one potential arrangement could allow Speaker Johnson more control over the composition and operations of the panel. This new committee would be classified as a “select committee,” a designation often given to temporary groups formed to investigate specific issues of national importance.
This development marks a clear shift in the Republican approach to the January 6 attack, which was initially investigated by a bipartisan committee under the leadership of Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Republican Rep. Liz Cheney. The previous committee produced a high-profile report that placed significant blame on former President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the violence, but this new investigation seems to aim at a different narrative.
Loudermilk has been a vocal critic of the previous January 6 select committee, which he described as being “so singularly focused” on former President Trump that it overlooked other potential contributing factors to the Capitol riot. According to Loudermilk, the earlier investigation was biased and failed to address the full range of failures that led to the attack. He asserted that, rather than focusing solely on Trump’s actions, the committee should have looked at other failures at various levels of government.
