Will the crazy caucus sit on the Jan 6 panel?

The House is voting today on a bill to create a select committee to investigate the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, after Senate Republicans blocked a measure to form an independent commission to probe the assault last month. The bill would create a 13-member committee made up of eight members appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and five chosen by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Pelosi is considering naming one Republican, which would give the committee a partisan balance of seven Democrats to six Republicans.

• — No seditionists allowed. The concern among Democrats is that McCarthy will appoint members who voted against certifying President Biden's election win. The Democrats accuse these Republicans of abetting the attack in the first place, and continuing to downplay the event and spread falsehoods about the election ever since.
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• — Saving grace. Pelosi will essentially have veto power over McCarthy's choices, so if McCarthy wanted to appoint an extremist member like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, or Paul Gosar, for example, Pelosi could reject his choice.
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• — Keeping mum. So far, Pelosi has not indicated what potential panel members would be beyond the pale. If she follows through in naming a Republican, it's widely speculated that she would choose Rep. Liz Cheney, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, or one of the other 35 House Republicans who voted in favor of the independent commission. Stay tuned. —CBS News

Halpern: Election officials face their biggest challenge yet

"In recent weeks, much attention has been paid to measures being enacted at the state level to limit access to the ballot. Jurisdictions across the country are shortening polling hours, limiting early voting, and eliminating same-day voter registration. But undermining election administration—either by making it harder for officials to do their jobs or by removing them entirely—is new terrain for the Republican Party. Matt Masterson, the former Election Assistance Commissioner, told me, 'As a Republican commissioner, it is incredibly disheartening to see a big chunk of the party embrace a narrative of lies, and undermining of our democratic institutions because they can't move on from a loss.'" —Sue Halpern in The New Yorker

Sue Halpern is an author and a staff writer at The New Yorker.

MORE: Maricopa County won't reuse voting equipment that was with Cyber Ninjas for audit —The Arizona Republic

'It's time to remove those symbols of slavery, segregation, and sedition'

The House passed a bill yesterday that would remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol as well as a bust of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision that denied enslaved people the right to be citizens. "This sacred space, this temple of democracy has been defiled for too long. We ought not to forget history. We must learn from history. But we ought not to honor that which defiles the principles for which we stand," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on the floor before the vote. The bill passed by a vote of 285 to 120, with every Democrat and 67 Republicans voting in favor. It now heads to the Senate, where it needs 10 Republican senators to join every Democrat to pass. —USA Today

MORE: GOP Rep. Paul Gosar appears to ally with white nationalists—again —The Washington Post

Lyons: Journalism supports democracy. It needs our help

"The economic starvation of newspapers moves this nation closer to autocracy, a downward trajectory toward those countries [with] heavy-handed press crackdowns. Journalists and newspapers have always provided that vital public oversight of government and business that defines a democratic nation. Without their diligence and courage, and without our support, our most precious freedom that we hold up as an example to the world will simply be empty words from a democracy in decline." —Stephen Lyons in St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Stephen Lyons is a journalist and author whose most recent book is "West of East."

MORE: 'I did what needed to be done!': Feds arrest Capitol rioter accused of live-streaming attack on journalist —The Washington Post

Here's a new one...

A Republican megadonor is funding the deployment of up to 50 South Dakota National Guard troops to the U.S. southern border, as part of a confrontation with President Biden over border security. Willis Johnson, a Tennessee-based billionaire, made the donation to the state through his foundation for this purpose. A spokesperson for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said she agreed to it "to help alleviate the cost to South Dakota taxpayers." State Sen. Reynold Nesiba said the fact that Noem is using private funds to pay for the deployment shows it's not a "real priority" for the state, but merely gives her "political cover." He's also looking into whether using a private donation to fund a deployment is even legal. —NPR

MORE: More than 1 million migrants arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border since October —CNN

Focus on infrastructure

In his first speech directly pitching his infrastructure proposal to the American people, President Biden argued in Wisconsin yesterday that the American Jobs Plan would benefit working and middle-class families. He said the bipartisan legislation, forged by "listening, compromising together, and in good faith moving together," is "a generational investment to modernize our infrastructure, creating millions of good-paying jobs." Biden added that it would position the U.S. "to compete with the rest of the world in the 21st century, because China is way outworking us in terms of infrastructure." —CNN

• — Americans believe him...including Republicans. According to a new Yahoo! News/YouGov poll, 6 in 10 Republican voters say they favor the $1.2 trillion package. It's an auspicious sign, after years of lip service, that Congress might finally come together to pass the first major increase in public works spending since 2009. —Yahoo! News
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• — So what's the hold-up? House Democrats are seeking to link the infrastructure agreement to a larger social benefits package, rebuffing an appeal from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to decouple the two bills. Biden initially supported the House strategy but then backed off following an outcry from moderate GOP senators who helped craft the bipartisan deal. McConnell has urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to follow the president's lead. —The Hill
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• — Dems vs. Dems. The situation is setting up a showdown between progressive Democrats and the more pragmatic moderate Democrats. The fear in the party's left flank is that if the bipartisan measure gathers enough steam to quickly pass as a stand-alone bill, moderates will lose their appetite for another major economic package. The progressives are warning that they will bring down the infrastructure agreement if their other economic priorities aren't tied to it in one way or another. —The New York Times

Rubin: We can't go on this way

"We want to believe that good will can foster a return to less contentious and hyperpartisan times. But what if one side adopts noxious views antithetical to democracy—and, worse, rejects the basic premise of America? ... As disturbing as it may seem, today's GOP cannot be entrusted with power and cannot play the role of the 'loyal opposition' if it continues to operate outside the democratic compact. Moreover, if millions of Americans maintain an authoritarian fixation, our democracy will founder, and what happened on Jan. 6 may become a post-election pattern." —Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin is an attorney and political opinion columnist at The Washington Post.

MORE: 1/4 of Americans qualify as highly 'right-wing authoritarian,' new poll finds —Insider

Rep. Matt Gaetz of the terrorist party trolled General Milley last week while making his snarky comments and smirks. I'd love a few minutes with him to teach him about respect. But aside from that, as a veteran myself, I'd like to know which branch Gaetz was in, when, and where. Oh right, he never served. He's one of the many chicken hawks who will gladly send you or yours off to war while he hides. Then he'll tell us how much he supports the military while at the same doing what he did at the hearing and afterwards.

Gaetz showed his ignorance and incompetence with the wrong guy when he spewed off at someone like General Milley. I hope many others stand up. He did so in the moment—not later on, after the BS would be churned and whipped up for the sycophants. I have been saying for a long time that people need to stand up and challenge the sycophants in REAL TIME. General Milley did so, and the sooner others do so, the better off we will be. Members of the GOP rely on their sheep to be misinformed and uninformed. For once, someone did not let the moment pass. Thank you, General Milley. As an American and a veteran, you made me very proud.

As for cowards like Gaetz and Tucker Carlson, they say that kneeling during the National Anthem by football players is disrespecting the military. Yet they do so overtly with their blather, as both have done now. Carlson never served either, but he's a war hero in his small mind. Notice how cowards like the two of them lead from the back, telling others what to do, like challenge people over masks or storm the Capitol. They talk tough, but never show up. Cosplay cowards. Both could join the military via a waiver. Neither will, nor will any of the other chicken hawks. All mouth, no guts. Just like their dear leader, Donald J. Trump. —Bill T., Arizona

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