Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Wednesday morning that he will oppose a commission to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, calling the bipartisan proposal \u201cslanted and unbalanced.\u201d<\/p>\n
The House is set to vote later Wednesday on a bill to create the commission. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also opposes the plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The commission would consist of 10 independent experts who would investigate the causes of the Capitol riot and make recommendations to prevent it from happening again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McConnell claimed House Democrats negotiated in bad faith on the basic parameters of the commission. That\u2019s not true. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) agreed to nearly all of Republicans\u2019 demands for the panel, including equal party representation, shared subpoena power, and mandating that a report be released by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
McConnell had previously complained that the commission wouldn\u2019t focus on political violence related to Black Lives Matter protests last year, but this week seemed to drop that objection in favor of one about a commission duplicating investigations by federal law enforcement and congressional committees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is, has been, and there will continue to be no shortage \u2015 no shortage of robust investigations by two separate branches of the federal government,\u201d McConnell said Wednesday. \u201cIt\u2019s not at all clear what new facts or additional investigation yet another commission could actually lay on top of existing efforts by law enforcement and Congress.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McConnell previously said he would support a commission modeled on the one Congress established after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That commission also complemented the investigatory work of law enforcement and congressional committees, where lawmakers tend to grandstand and avoid legitimate lines of inquiry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The leaders of the 9\/11 Commission, former New Hampshire Gov. Tom Kean and former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton, issued a statement on Wednesday urging the House to pass the bill establishing a Jan. 6 commission. They called on Congress to \u201cset aside partisan politics and come together as Americans in common pursuit of truth and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although McConnell\u2019s opposition makes setting up a commission much more difficult, it\u2019s possible that 10 Republicans would support the measure, preventing a filibuster, if all seven GOP senators who voted to convict Trump over the insurrection sign on.<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that he will hold a vote on the bill to create a commission even if Republicans vow to oppose it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRepublicans can let their constituents know, are they on the side of truth [or do they] want to cover up for the insurrectionists and for Donald Trump?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n