House passes Jan. 6 commission bill in a bipartisan vote

An investigation will now soon be underway following the House’s vote regarding whether or not to establish a bipartisan commission to look into the January 6 insurrection. Contrary to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s opposition, the bipartisan bill also received a bipartisan vote, passing Congress.

The House has officially approved the bipartisan proposal of a January 6 commission similar to that of the 9/11 commission. 35 Republicans voted in support of the commission, breaking away from most of their colleagues, who have expressed opposition. The voting came as Capitol Police officers sent a letter to lawmakers criticizing their failure to support the law enforcement that protected them during the riots.

The bipartisan proposal, led by Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and Republican Rep. John Katko, was opposed by both House and Senate Minority Leaders Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell. McCarthy and McConnell’s opposition would have given the impression that the proposal would fall flat. However, the opposite occurred when Katko worked with Thompson on the proposal. The final vote was 252 to 175 in favor of establishing the commission.

Despite Katko debunking any points to oppose the bill by Congressional Republicans, GOP members that are known to still support former President Donald Trump, remain opposed to the bill. John Berman of CNN discussed Katko’s effort on “New Day” with Brianna Keilar, noted that Katko was able to negotiate based on McCarthy’s specific requests, which came to both sides agreeing.

Berman said that Katko’s contribution won the favor of House Democrats on almost all the points. “This is about facts. It’s not partisan. We would never have gotten to this point if it was about partisan politics,” said Berman, who later noted that having 35 House Republicans vote in favor of the commission is a sign that McCarthy is showing weak leadership in his caucus.

As well, Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier issued a warning against McConnell against trying to block voting for the Capitol insurrection commission. Speier warned that McConnell would ultimately regret trying to obstruct a vote for the Jan. 6 commission. Speaking on CNN, Speier explained why a commission is needed and why Republicans should support it.

Speier also urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to force the Senate GOP to try and filibuster the commission. The California Rep. also said that House Democrats are willing to form a select committee to investigate the riots should Republicans in the Senate refuse to support the bill.