The two Democrats who oppose changing the Senate’s filibuster rules on Tuesday begged Republicans to support a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol.
In a joint statement, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) called the creation of a commission “critical” to prevent such an attack from occurring again.
“We implore our Senate Republican colleagues to work with us to find a path forward on a commission to examine the events of January 6th,” the two senators said in the statement.
If not enough Republicans support the bill, Manchin and Sinema will face even greater pressure to join with their Democratic colleagues in junking the Senate’s legislative filibuster, which requires a supermajority of 60 senators to bypass.
The House passed a bill last week that would set up a 10-member panel of outside experts, with five appointed by Democrats and five by Republicans, to investigate what went wrong on Jan. 6 and recommend policy changes to prevent it from happening again.
Thirty-five Republicans supported the House bill, which had been written by Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and John Katko (R-N.Y.), the top lawmakers on the Homeland Security Committee.
But Senate Republicans broadly oppose the bill, mostly on the grounds that existing congressional investigations are sufficient to probe the attack, even though Congress has previously set up special commissions that complemented its own committee work.
Republicans also fear that a monthslong investigation would anger former President Donald Trump and hurt them politically during next year’s midterm elections. Trump has lashed out at the commission in recent days, saying that “unless the murders, riots, and fire bombings in Portland, Minneapolis, Seattle, Chicago, and New York are also going to be studied, this discussion should be ended immediately.”
Addressing the matter at his weekly press conference, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he views the Jan. 6 commission as a “purely political exercise” and that he would rather voters focus on the Biden administration and not events of the past.
Democrats need at least 10 Republicans to join them in advancing the bill to the floor, which could receive a vote as early as this week. It’s difficult to see that happening at the moment.
Only a handful of Republican senators who voted to convict Trump over the Jan. 6 attack have expressed openness to the measure. Some, like Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, say they support the concept in general but are asking for further changes to the structure of the commission. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), meanwhile, told HuffPost she would support the bill.
I’m sure the Republicans will be moved by this entreaty. They’re very sensitive people and you just know they’ll listen to such a heartfelt appeal.
I think it’s great that Manchin and Sinema believe the commission is important. It shows they aren’t completely insane. But if their reason for “protecting” the filibuster is to show what moderates they are, this is a strange issue to choose. This and the voting rights bills hit at the heart of the GOP’s nefarious plot to defraud the electoral process and destroy democracy. The Big Lie is the organizing principle of the Republican party now. These “moderates” will not be forgiven if they cross that line.
If they want to nuke the filibuster over this I’m all for it. But it is surprising that they wouldn’t choose something like the infrastructure bill or even the American families act. Those offer material benefits to people in their states. But maybe they really don’t want to be the Strom Thurmonds of the 21st century who are willing to stand by while the racists use the filibuster to undermine democracy. It seems like a long shot but you never know.