The House committee Thursday began its public hearings about the events that led to the Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021. Here are the members:
LIZ CHENEY
Republican of Wyoming
Bio: The scion of a conservative dynasty and a onetime Republican luminary. Worked in the State Department. Was first elected to the House in 2016 and is viewed as a possible presidential candidate in 2024.
Jan. 6 Committee: As vice chairwoman, she has pushed her party to account for its role in the riot.
Quotation: “What Donald Trump did was he really mobilized and motivated and summoned the mob. And the lie about the election was what lit the flame.”
STEPHANIE MURPHY
Democrat of Florida
Bio: The first Vietnamese American elected to the House. A former national security specialist for the Defense Department. A leading member of the Blue Dog Coalition of moderates.
Jan. 6 Committee: Her appointment marks her elevation by party leaders as a representative of the broader caucus, where her reputation for pragmatism could help counter charges of partisanship.
Quotation: “My hope is that the viewers of the hearings come to it, setting aside their reflexive partisan framework and cynicism about politics in America, and view the information we have to provide with an open mind.”
BENNIE THOMPSON
Democrat of Mississippi
Bio: Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. Serving his 13th term in the House of Representatives.
Jan. 6 Committee: He agreed to be chairman after Republicans blocked the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol siege. He has authorized more than 100 subpoenas.
Quotation: “I’m convinced, and so are the members of our committee, that some of our agencies were positioned to be used to support the Big Lie. We want to show how that positioning occurred, so that the public understands that some of those things in a democracy should never happen.”
ADAM B. SCHIFF
Democrat of California
Bio: A former prosecutor first elected to the House in 2000. Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Lead impeachment manager for Trump’s first trial in 2020.
Jan. 6 Committee: He said his work this time around was less constrained than the impeachment trial, given that witnesses were not allowed in that proceeding.
Quotation: “What I’m most concerned about if the Republicans should ever get near the gavel is that they will overturn the next election if Trump loses again — they tried to overturn the last one.”
ADAM KINZINGER
Republican of Illinois
Bio: An Air Force veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. A six-term congressman who remains a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.
Jan. 6 Committee: He is one of only two Republicans. Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed him after she rejected two lawmakers chosen by Republican leaders who had defended Trump after the riot.
Quotation: “I’m a Republican dedicated to conservative values, but I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution — and while this is not the position I expected to be in or sought out, when duty calls, I will always answer.”
JAMIE RASKIN
Democrat of Maryland
Bio: The lead manager in Trump’s second impeachment trial. A former constitutional law professor at American University. Author of “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy” about the Capitol siege and its aftermath.
Jan. 6 Committee: He has said the committee’s findings will “blow the roof off the House.”
Quotation: “We are in the thick of a struggle to defend our democratic institutions and our democratic processes and the constitutional order. We have a former president who now has positioned himself and his supporters outside of the constitutional order.”
ZOE LOFGREN
Democrat of California
Bio: First elected to Congress in 1994. Chairwoman of the Committee on House Administration, which plays a role in overseeing the Capitol Police. She has held hearings about the security failures surrounding the siege.
Jan. 6 Committee: She is the only member of the panel to have participated in three modern presidential impeachments. As a young law student, she helped the House Judiciary Committee draft its Watergate charges against President Richard Nixon.
Quotation: The attack on the Capitol and the events leading up to it are “more serious than the threat that was posed by Watergate to our country.”
ELAINE LURIA
Democrat of Virginia
Bio: A naval officer for 20 years, operating nuclear reactors as an engineer. The first female American sailor to spend her entire career on combat ships. Serving her second congressional term.
Jan. 6 Committee: She asked to serve despite the vulnerability of her seat in 2022. Her district lines were redrawn this year to turn a true tossup district into one that leans distinctly Republican. With Kinzinger, she will lead the final hearing dissecting Trump’s role in inciting the riot.
Quotation: “If I don’t get reelected because of this, that’s OK.”
PETE AGUILAR
Democrat of California
Bio: Former mayor of Redlands, California. Highest-ranking Latino in Congress, as vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. A leader in Democratic messaging. Known as an affable liaison to Republicans.
Jan. 6 Committee: He is the youngest member, at 42. He did not seek the committee post but was drafted by Pelosi.
Quotation: “We’ve been clear that what we’re focused on is why didn’t the former president do more when we were under attack at the Capitol? What was he doing? Why didn’t anyone send additional resources and help, and what was his role in that?”