House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s selections of Reps Jim Banks of Indiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio to be on the select committee to investigate the riot on Capitol Hill on January 6.

       Mr McCarthy had selected Mr Jordan and Mr Banks, along with Reps Troy Nehls of Texas, Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota and Rodney Davis of Illinois.

       But Ms Pelosi said she spoke with Mr McCarthy about her objections to the selection of Mr Jordan, a hardine defender of former President Donald Trump, and Mr Banks, who leads the Republican Study Committee.

       “With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” Ms Pelosi said in a statement.

       Both congressmen voted to object to the election results, as did Mr Nehls. But both men in interviews or in statements pointed to Black Lives Matter protests last summer, with Mr Jordan saying that Democrats were the ones who were “normalising” rioting and looting.

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       “The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision,” Ms Pelosi said in her statement.