Tag: GOP trying to whitewash Trump insurrection

‘A spit in the face’: Partner of fallen Capitol Police officer slams GOP lawmakers who blocked Jan. 6 commission

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The partner of fallen U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick is speaking out to express her frustration with Republican lawmakers who voted against the establishment of a commission to investigate the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. 

According to CBS News, Sicknick’s mother arrived on Capitol Hill last week with his former partner Sandra Garza. The two women hoped to lobby lawmakers to vote in favor of the Jan. 6 commission. However, her plea fell on deaf ears as Republican lawmakers ultimately blocked the measure.

Following the unfavorable vote, Garza sounded off with her opinion of their “dereliction of duty.” Continue reading.

Senate meltdown reveals deepening partisan divide

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An unexpected Senate meltdown this week is prompting Democrats to re-evaluate what they can realistically accomplish this year in Congress.

Senators were up until 2:52 a.m. on Friday trying to hammer out a deal on how to move forward on a bipartisan bill to improve U.S. competitiveness with China. In the end, the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement and had to punt the legislation into next month.

Less than 12 hours later, a bill to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol failed on a mostly party-line vote, even though it passed the House a week earlier with 35 Republicans supporting it. Continue reading.

COMMENTARY: The United States is at the mercy of those who think they’re God’s elect

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I’m going to try connecting things that don’t at first seem related. They are the fight over a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection; the disproportional number of covid deaths in states run by Republican governors; this week’s shooting massacre in San Jose, Calif., and every other one like it; and, let’s see, what else? Well, feel free at the end of this piece to add your own examples. There are plenty more.

All have in common the political concept that God divided the world between the elected and the unelected, that is, between His chosen and everyone else deserving of eternal damnation. (They deserve what’s coming to them, in other words.) For the chosen, anything is possible. For God’s enemies, God’s law. All politics, all historical struggle over power and limited resources, can be seen through a lens in which everything begins with the chosen and ends with the chosen. It’s a closed circuit—politically, religiously, economically and every way that matters. Important for you to understand is this: it’s impervious to democracy, morality, justice and the truth. If you want to keep this republic of ours, you’ve got to keep these people away from power.

The commission

The Republicans in the United States Senate this morning filibustered a bipartisan House bill that would have created an independent ideologically neutral commission to investigate the January 6 sacking and looting of the United States Capitol. The United States Congress created such commissions after the Oklahoma City bombing in the 1990s and the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Along with being good for democracy and patriotism, a commission of this kind is the right thing to do. Continue reading.

Sen. Murkowski delivers pointed criticism of fellow Republicans, including McConnell, who oppose Jan. 6 commission

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On the eve of the failure of a measure that would form a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters that the decision facing senators is about more than “just one election cycle.”

Murkowski made the remarks in an extraordinary exchange at the Capitol on Thursday night. It comes as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been urging Republican senators to oppose the establishment of an independent commission, which he argued is “extraneous,” and as relatives of the late Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick plead with senators to back the legislation.

“They don’t want to rock the boat,” Murkowski said of Republican senators who oppose the commission. “They don’t want to upset. But again, it’s important that there be a focus on the facts and on the truth. And that may be unsettling, but we need to understand that.” Continue reading.

Senate GOP blocks legislation on Jan. 6 commission

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Senate Republicans on Friday blocked legislation to form a commission to probe the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Senators voted 54-35 on the House-passed bill, falling short of the 10 GOP votes needed to get it over an initial hurdle and marking the first successful filibuster by Republicans in the 117th Congress. 

GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Susan Collins(Maine), Bill Cassidy (La.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) broke ranks and voted to advance the legislation. Continue reading.

With Capitol insurrection commission delayed in the Senate, Rep. Phillips calls for filibuster reform

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WASHINGTON, DC — With the Senate vote on the bipartisan commission to investigate delayed, Rep. Phillips issues the following statement:

“I value tradition. Like most Americans, I yearn for the days when Senators debated rather than divided and broke bread rather than our collective trust in government. But here we are, just months removed from an insurrection, merging from a pandemic, witnessing graphic displays of corruption, and at risk of irretrievable erosion of faith in elections – the very foundation of our democratic republic. I believe a bipartisan January 6 Commission and HR1, the For The People Act, are too important to forgo without debate, deliberation and a floor vote in the Senate. So it’s time to call on tradition and return the filibuster to its roots; the talking filibuster. Senators who wish to prevent a bill from a facing a simple majority vote would have to be so committed to obstruction that they’re willing to speak on the floor for as many hours or days or even months as it takes to force the others to concede. I believe in tradition, and tradition dictates Senators should be debating and voting, or have to work a whole lot harder to do nothing at all.”

Romney first GOP senator to say he would vote for Jan. 6 commission bill

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Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said on Monday that he would support a House-passed bill to create a commission to probe the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Romney’s comments make him the first GOP senator to say he would vote for the bill, which needs the support of 10 Republicans to pass the Senate.

Asked how he would vote if Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) tried to start debate on the House bill, a move that requires 60 votes to defeat a filibuster, Romney told reporters, “I would support the bill.” Continue reading.

ABC host corners ‘unrealistic’ Susan Collins for opposing Jan. 6 commission that she ‘strongly’ supports

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Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Sunday insisted that she “strongly” supports a bipartisan commission to study the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol even though she has threatened to vote against it. 

During an appearance on ABC’s This Week, host George Stephanopoulos asked Collins why she has said that she would vote against a bill that was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to establish the commission.

“You called that attack appalling and un-American, provoked by President Trump,” Stephanopoulos noted. “But now you say you’re going to support the commission only under certain conditions, including that it wrap up this year, which appears pretty unrealistic.” Continue reading.

‘You’re putting country above party?’ Chris Wallace calls out Roy Blunt’s ‘honesty’ on Jan. 6 commission

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Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) over the weekend declined to say if he is “putting country above party” by opposing a commission to study the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

In a Sunday interview on Fox News, host Chris Wallace asked Blunt why he is trying to prevent a new investigation into the events of Jan. 6.

“Well, I think it’s too early to create a commission,” Blunt explained. “And I believe Republicans in the Senate will decide that it’s too early to create that commission. Commissions often don’t work at all. And when they do work, like the Simpson-Bowles commission produced a good result — nothing happened as part of that result.” Continue reading.

Democrats seize on GOP opposition to Jan. 6 commission

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Democrats are hammering Republicans over their opposition to a Jan. 6 commission as they look to retain control of Congress next year.

Hopes for a bipartisan panel to investigate the deadly riot at the Capitol earlier this year were dashed when Republican leadership came out against the idea, casting it as a partisan maneuver.

But some Democrats believe there may be a silver lining in the recent development, seeing the GOP’s sharp reversal on the issue as a way to bolster support ahead of the midterm elections. Continue reading.