Congressman Jim McGovern said he believes Rep. Kevin McCarthy bowed to the whim of former President Donald Trump after McCarthy voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
"I think what ended up happening was a deal was agreed to, then McCarthy got a call from the Mar-a-Lago prison phone from Donald Trump, and Trump says kill it, and McCarthy said, 'Oh, OK I'll do it,'" House Rules Committee Chair McGovern said today on Boston Public Radio.
When asked by host Jim Braude on Friday, McGovern said Republican opposition to the commission is solely a function of fear of Trump.
McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, threw his own negotiator "under the bus," McGovern said, noting that McCarthy voted against the commission even after the negotiations gave him "all the things he asked for" in the legislation.
"The disagreements here were not over policy, not over substance. The issue here is one of character, one of ability to lead," said McGovern. "McCarthy, in my opinion, lacks character, and he certainly is in my opinion not capable of leadership [of] any kind. I don't say that in a partisan way, I just say that I'm sick and tired of people who have the spines of jellyfish, who just cave because they're afraid they might get a negative comment from the discredited former president of this country."
Thirty five Republican representatives voted in favor of the commission in the House; McGovern said he hopes enough Republican senators sign on to the commission, citing the handful of Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in the impeachment trial.
The commission would be tasked with reviewing the events that led to the deadly attack on Congress and how the government responded. McGovern framed the commission also as a preventative measure.
"I'm worried about another attack on the Capitol," he said. "If Republican leadership succeeds in derailing this, the chances of another attack are that much greater."
Some Republicans have said the 9/11-style commission is an attack on the party itself. McGovern said a level of unease remains in Congress between Democrats and some of the most fervent supporters of Trump within the Republican party.
"These people are not rational, reasonable and I really do think they need help," he said. "That's what worries me, because I don't know what they respond to, and they say things that are threatening. I make a point not to ride the elevator with them if they're getting in an elevator during the vote. Just because, I'd rather walk. It's better for my heart and better for my blood pressure."
