Rep. Jim Jordan talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the House chamber on Jan. 4, 2023.
Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Only two of McCarthy’s defectors-turned-supporters are getting a seat: Roy and Bishop. Bishop was an early advocate within the conference for a select committee, while Roy helped negotiate the deal that helped secure McCarthy the speaker’s gavel.

Other GOP members of the committee will include Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Greg Steube (R-Fla.), Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) and Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.). Hageman defeated former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the two Republicans on the Democratic-led Jan. 6 committee.

Democrats still need to recommend their own members to the panel. As part of the resolution that greenlit it, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) automatically gets a seat, due to his perch as top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Additionally, the resolution laid out that McCarthy would name 13 members beyond Jordan and Nadler, including no more than five in consultation with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Beyond Jordan, McCarthy’s list Tuesday night included 11 GOP members, filling most of the panel’s 13 available slots amid intense interest within his conference. But two aides familiar with the plan said McCarthy intends to pass a second resolution expanding the size of the panel, to account for the greater number of Republicans appointees. Democrats would get a proportional increase as well, the aides said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The panel, which the House approved earlier this month along a party-line vote, is already a lightning rod for Democratic criticism, the Biden administration and their allies, who view it as a vehicle for Republicans to use their new majority to enact political revenge.

“Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy claim to be investigating the weaponization of the federal government when, in fact, this new select subcommittee is the weapon itself. It is specifically designed to inject extremist politics into our justice system and shield the MAGA movement from the legal consequences of their actions,” Nadler said in a recent statement about the panel.

But Republicans have defended the decision to set up the panel as necessary to conduct oversight over the FBI and the Justice Department, two of the party’s biggest targets in recent years. They’ve also pointed to an inspector general’s report that found the FBI misused its surveillance powers to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser.

McCarthy argued that Democrats used their past two years of unified control of Washington to “target political opponents.”

“The government has a responsibility to serve the American people, not go after them,” he added.

Olivia Beavers and Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.