Illinois Valley Times

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is pleased with the addition of the former chair of the House Republican Conference to the select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) named U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) to the committee nearly two months after Cheney’s GOP colleagues ousted her as conference chair.

“Fantastic news!” Kinzinger Tweeted on July 1.

The Hill reported that he and Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, were the lone two Republican members of Congress to support the resolution to create the body, which passed the House in a 222-190 vote on June 30.

Cheney joins seven Democratic lawmakers handpicked by Pelosi while House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has the responsibility of appointing five more members.

Cheney’s opposition toward former President Donald Trump during what would turn out to be his final days in office prompted Republican legislators to sack her as one of the top officials in their party.

She voted for the second impeachment of Trump, as well as condemned his allegations that the 2020 presidential election was rife with fraud, and the storming of the Capitol by his supporters.

As for Kinzinger, his congressional career may be in jeopardy not because Trump vowed to eliminate those who voted to impeach him but because of Illinois’ remapping plans for its congressional districts.

The Illinois Valley Times reported that David Wasserman, house editor of The Cook Political Report, Tweeted a political map of the Prairie State saying Kinzinger’s district could be carved up by Democratic leaders in Springfield, who control both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s mansion.

The publication additionally reported that like Cheney, Kinzinger has lost support from GOP for his anti-Trump views.

His challenger in next year’s Republican primary, Catalina Lauf, said she can understand the animosity given the way Kinzinger has represented the district, the Illinois Valley Times reported.

“When you have someone like Adam Kinzinger – who represents small business, (and) everyday American community – he is not only not pushing back against the far left but actually echoing a lot of what these far leftists are saying; it’s a huge problem,” she said in a YouTube video. “This area is very Trump, but yet we have a congressman in Kinzinger who bashes the former president and Republicans.”