Sunday shows preview: Jan. 6 committee votes to subpoena Trump; inflation accelerates in September

The Jan. 6 committee’s vote to subpoena former President Trump and September’s inflation report will likely dominate the Sunday talk shows this week.

The committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol unanimously voted to subpoena Trump during what may have been its final public hearing on Thursday. 

“He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on Jan. 6,” Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said at the hearing. “So, we want to hear from him.”

However, the “serious and extraordinary action” — as Thompson described it — is unlikely to produce testimony from the former president, who has fought the committee from its inception. Trump immediately turned to social media to criticize the subpoena announcement on Thursday.

“Why didn’t the Unselect Committee ask me to testify months ago?” Trump wrote on Truth Social soon after the committee wrapped. “Why did they wait until the very end, the final moments of their last meeting?”

The vote to subpoena Trump came at the very end of Thursday’s chock-full hearing. The committee released never-before-seen footage from the day itself, showing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) making urgent calls from a secure location in an effort stop the riot.

Testimony and recently obtained communications from the Secret Service also underscored previous testimony that Trump sought to travel to the Capitol on Jan. 6, as his supporters converged on the building.

Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), two of the committee’s nine members, are set to join ABC’s “This Week” and NBC’s “Meet the Press” respectively on Sunday.

The September inflation report will likely also be a topic of discussion on the Sunday show circuit, as inflation continued to accelerate for the second month in a row. Inflation rose by 8.2 percent over the last 12 months, driven by housing, food and medical costs, according to the report released on Thursday. 

The Federal Reserve is expected to continue raising interest rates as a result. The interest rate hikes are meant to slow the economy but also risk triggering a recession.

President Biden on Thursday acknowledged that “prices are still too high” but touted his administration’s “progress in the fight against higher prices.” However, with the midterm elections just weeks away, Thursday’s report represents bad news for Democrats, who had hoped inflation would begin to subside by the election.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is set to discuss inflation, the U.S. jobs report and recession fears with ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, while White House economic advisors Cecilia Rouse and Jared Bernstein chat with CNN’s “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday” respectively.

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows: 

ABC’s “This Week” — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.); Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.); Evan McMullin, independent candidate for Senate in Utah

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Buttigieg; Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova; Betsey Stevenson, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan

CNN’s “State of the Union” — National security adviser Jake Sullivan; White House economic adviser Cecilia Rouse; Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.); the nominees for Arizona governor, Republican Kari Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs; Joe O’Dea, Republican nominee for Senate in Colorado

“Fox News Sunday” — Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.); White House economic adviser Jared Bernstein

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.); former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Republican candidate for governor in New York; Kiyan Michael, Republican candidate for Florida House of Representatives; Trump Media CEO and former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.)

Updated 10/16 4:54 p.m.