WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania congressman who witnessed the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump firsthand will lead the House task force charged with investigating what went wrong and recommending solutions to help ensure such an attack doesn’t happen again.
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly represents the city of Butler, where the July 13 attack occurred. He attended Trump’s campaign rally and sponsored the legislation to create the task force, saying his community was grieving and that “the people of Butler and the people of the United States deserve answers.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York jointly announced on Monday that 13 lawmakers had been appointed to the task force. It will be comprised of seven Republicans and six Democrats and will issue a final report before Dec. 13. To conduct its investigation, the House approved a resolution giving the panel the authority to issue subpoenas.
“We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified, and capable members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again,” Johnson and Jeffries said in their statement.
Many of the lawmakers have a background in law enforcement, legal affairs or the military. The panel will assume control and jurisdiction over all pending House committee investigations about…