Last updated on May 29th, 2021 at 08:51 pm
Senate Republicans have successfully blocked the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol riot of January 6. The vote was 54 in favor and 35 against, falling short of the 60 votes it needed to advance. The measure to establish the commission was the first to be filibustered in the Democratic-controlled chamber.
The move to kill the commission was spearheaded by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who angered several members of his party. The six GOP senators who backed the bill were: Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.
“To be making a decision for the short-term political gain at the expense of understanding and acknowledging what was in front of us, on January 6th I, I think we need to look at that critically,” Murkowski said last night.Â
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“Is that really what this is about? Is everything is just one election cycle after another? Or are we going to acknowledge that as a country that is based on these principles of democracy that we hold so dear” that “we have free and fair elections and we respect the results of those elections and we we allow for a peaceful transition of power,” she said. “I kind of want that to endure beyond just one election cycle.”
The House of Representatives reached a bipartisan agreement last week to form the commission, which would include a panel of 10 members with half of them appointed by Democratic congressional leaders, including the chair, and half by Republicans, including the vice-chair.Â
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
