Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthyFlash 90

The US House of Representatives on Monday defeated an effort by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to seat his preferred members for the select committee dedicated to investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, The Hill reported.

The mostly party-line vote of 218-197 comes a day before the panel's first hearing with four police officers who will testify about their experiences defending the Capitol.

McCarthy is protesting Speaker Nancy Pelosi's refusal to seat two of the Republicans he named to the panel — Reps. Jim Banks and Jim Jordan.

The two-page resolution offered by McCarthy formally "condemns the refusal" of Pelosi to seat all five of his chosen members to the select committee and urges her to do so.

"Speaker Pelosi's refusal to seat all five Republican members directly harms the legitimacy, credibility and integrity of the proceedings of the select committee," the resolution states.

Pelosi has tapped two Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the riots and have been critical of their party's continued embrace of the former president: Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.

Both Cheney and Kinzinger voted with Democrats to table McCarthy's resolution.

In May, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to form a commission to probe the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The bill was approved in a 252-175 vote, with 35 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.

Two days later, however, Senate Republicans blocked the legislation. Senators voted 54-35 on the House-passed bill, falling short of the 10 GOP votes needed to get it over an initial hurdle.

Without any pathway forward in the Senate, Pelosi announced she would use her power to pursue a select committee in the House that will be controlled by Democrats.

Last week, Pelosi made clear that the congressional committee will take on its “deadly serious” work whether Republicans participate or not.

On Sunday, Banks accused Pelosi of being responsible for the "breakdown" in security at the Capitol during a deadly riot on January 6, and said she only wants to "stick to her narrative" as she appoints anti-Trump Republicans to the committee investigating the attack.