“House Republicans don’t want to touch the select committee on January 6 with a 10-foot pole. As Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy mulls whom to tap for a congressional investigation into the deadly US Capitol riot – and whether to appoint people at all – Republicans from across the conference are racing to show they have no interest in taking on a politically fraught assignment, particularly lawmakers in difficult reelection races. There’s even scant interest among the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for inciting the deadly insurrection. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington issued multiple public statements: she told reporters she opposed the select panel and later put out a formal statement making crystal clear she wouldn’t serve on it if asked. New York Rep. John Katko, who brokered a bipartisan deal to establish an independent investigation that was blocked by Senate Republicans, said he has little appetite to participate in a ‘turbo-charged partisan exercise.'”

“Veteran Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, meanwhile, quipped to CNN: It’s ‘not on my bucket list.’ Others were equally as blunt. ‘No,’ said Rep. David Valadao, a vulnerable California Republican who voted to impeach Trump and backed an independent commission. ‘Obviously, the politics of it is going to be very, very obvious, and that’s why I supported the commission,’ he said. The anxiety among some Republicans foreshadows what is shaping up to be a partisan brawl that could put a hefty target on their backs, either with constituents or with Trump himself – neither of whom GOP lawmakers are eager to cross. If they don’t sufficiently defend Trump, they are bound to invite outrage from the base. Yet if they deny the former President’s role in the attack on the Capitol, they will be cast as whitewashing history. So most Republicans would rather keep their heads down as the probe plays out in the House, especially those representing more moderate-leaning districts” CNN.