Essdras M. Suarez/Zuma Wire
A measure to establish a 9/11-style commission to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol passed in the House Wednesday evening with bipartisan support.
Despite opposition to the proposal from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), 35 Republicans joined with all Democrats in supporting the measure, which would create a bipartisan 10-person panel with subpoena power to investigate the factors leading up to the attempted insurrection.
The fate of the bill in the Senate, where it needs 10 Republican supporters to pass, is unclear. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he would vote against the bill, but the substantial number of Republicans who sided with Democrats in the House suggests that perhaps a few Senate Republicans may be willing to break ranks.
Still, the many Republicans’ unwillingness to open a probe into the events of January 6 has exasperated some Democrats. During a debate on the House floor this afternoon, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) lost his temper with his colleagues across the aisle. “We had people scaling the Capitol, hitting the Capitol Police with lead pipes across the head, and we can’t get bipartisanship,” he said, adding that ignoring January 6 was “a slap in the face to every rank-and-file cop in the United States.”
“We need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality,” he said, “and you ain’t one of them.”
.@RepTimRyan has had it with Republican opposition to a January 6th commission: “We need two political parties in this country that are both living in reality, and you ain’t one of them.” pic.twitter.com/C4aiA5E7z4
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) May 19, 2021
