On pardons and January 6, Republicans torn between moving forward and looking back

GOP leaders are being pulled in opposite directions: Moderate members want the party to look ahead and focus on its agenda. But conservatives – and Donald Trump – aren’t done with litigating January 6 and investigating Joe Biden.

When reporters asked Mike Johnson to respond to President Donald Trump’s pardons for more than 1,000 people charged in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, the House speaker had a ready answer. “We’re not looking backwards. We’re looking forward,” he said Wednesday morning. Barely three hours later, Johnson announced the creation of a new select subcommittee to continue the GOP’s probe into January 6, because “there is more work to be done.” He also said Republicans would investigate pardons handed out by President Joe Biden on his way out the door. Wednesday’s whiplash showed how Johnson is being pulled in opposite directions: Moderate and vulnerable members of the GOP’s historically narrow majority want the party to look ahead and focus on its agenda. But a significant swath of conservatives – and Trump himself – aren’t done with the past. Before Trump took office, he told Johnson that he wanted House Republicans to prioritize re-litigating the previous investigation into January 6, two sources familiar with the conversations told CNN. Behind the scenes, Johnson wrestled for weeks with how to implement Trump’s request. The speaker wanted to keep his promise to the president, whose backing is crucial to his political survival, while also paying heed to his more vulnerable members. Johnson also had limited options of where to put Georgia GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s investigation this Congress because House Administration Committee Chair Bryan Steil communicated to House GOP leadership that he no longer wanted the probe under his panel, three sources said. A Steil spokesperson said he supported Loudermilk’s investigation.