Last updated on May 29th, 2021 at 08:45 pm
Senate Majority Leader Schumer announced that the Senate vote on the 1/6 Commission will happen on Friday afternoon.
Clip of Majority Leader Schumer on the Senate floor:
McConnell’s stall tactics fail as Schumer is going to force Republicans to vote on the 1/6 Commission in broad daylight. pic.twitter.com/VlbYtF6Pno
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— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) May 28, 2021
Schumer said in a transcript provided by his office to PoliticusUSA (All CAPS theirs):
LET ME TELL THE PUBLIC AND THE MEMBERS WHAT THIS DOES. IT’S SOMETHING WE PROPOSED. IT
ASSURESES A VOTE ON — ASSURES A VOTE ON THE JANUARY 6 COMMISSION IN THE NEXT HOUR, IT ASSURES IT OCCURS IN THE LIGHT OF DAY, NOT AT 3:00 P.M. MORNING AND IT ASSURES THAT THE VOTE ON THE U.S. COMPETITION ACT WILL TAKE PLACE WHEN WE RETURN IN JUNE. THIS IS A GOOD SOLUTION BECAUSE WE GET TO VOTE ON THE COMMISSION AND LET ME JUST SAY THIS TO MY REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES AND TO THE COUNTRY. THIS COMMISSION IS DESPERATELY NEEDED. WHAT HAS BEEN PERPETRATED BY PRESIDENT TRUMP OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS IS THE BIG LIE — THE BIG LIE THAT THE ELECTIONS WERE FIXED, THAT HE IS RIGHTFULLY PRESIDENT.
NOTHING IS MORE CORROSIVE TO OUR DEMOCRACY THAN A VIEW THAT ELECTIONS ARE NOT ON THE LEVEL. YET THAT HAS BEEN PROPAGATED BY DONALD TRUMP AND MANY OF HIS ALLIES. A COMMISSION CAN GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS IN A CLEAR WAY. IT IS A BIPARTISAN COMMISSION, IT IS DOWN THE MIDDLE COMMISSION, THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT REPUBLICAN INPUT BY THE REPUBLICAN LEADER IN THE HOUSE AND THE RANKING MEMBER OF THE REPUBLICAN — THE REPUBLICAN RANKING MEMBER OF THE RELEVANT COMMITTEE.
SO THIS IS RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. IF OUR REPUBLICAN FRIENDS VOTE AGAINST THIS, WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? THE TRUTH? ARE YOU AFRAID DONALD TRUMP’S BIG LIE WILL BE DISPELLED? ARE YOU AFRAID THAT ALL OF THE MISINFORMATION THAT HAS POURED OUT WILL BE REBUTTED BY A BIPARTISAN, DOWN THE MIDDLE COMMISSION? THIS IS ABOUT A DEMOCRACY. THIS IS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF OUR DEMOCRACY. THE BIG LIE HAS ERODED THAT DEMOCRACY. AND WE MUST DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO REBUT IT. THIS IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC OR REPUBLICAN OBLIGATION, THIS IS AN AMERICAN OBLIGATION. OUR DEMOCRACY, OUR BEAUTIFUL, MORE THAN TWO-CENTURY OLD DEMOCRACY IS AT MORE RISK BECAUSE OF THE LIES THAT HAVE BEEN PERPETRATED BY DONALD TRUMP AND HIS ALLIES AND IT HAS BEEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME AND THIS COMMISSION IS A GREAT ANTIDOTE TO THAT. — I HOPE THAT WE CAN GET BROAD — I HOPE THAT WE CAN GET BROAD SUPPORT ON THAT.
McConnell didn’t want this vote to take place when people would be paying attention, because he knows that the backlash will be severe. McConnell tried to delay the vote until the middle of the night but he failed.
Republican Senators were already whining because they weren’t on Memorial Day recess yet. Schumer knew that McConnell couldn’t keep the Republicans with him because they want to go home, so he waited him out and got what he wanted.
Senate Republicans will be on the record as opposing an investigation into the attack on the Capitol and running a cover-up for Trump, and the vote will happen for all to see.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
