Republicans derail bipartisan Senate probe into Capitol riot
54-35 vote falls short of the 60 needed to set up commission to look into events of Jan 6
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WASHINGTON • Republicans in the United States Senate derailed a bipartisan inquiry into the deadly assault on the Capitol by former president Donald Trump's supporters, despite a torrent of criticism that the lawmakers were playing down the violence.
Democrats and some moderate Republicans on Friday had called for a commission to probe the events up to and including Jan 6, when hundreds of supporters of Mr Trump stormed the Capitol, fighting with police, urging violence against lawmakers and delaying the formal certification of President Joe Biden's election victory.
The measure mustered a 54-35 vote that fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation in the 100-member Senate. The 35 "no" votes were all from Republicans. Six Republicans voted in favour of the commission.
The proposed commission would have had the power to force witnesses, possibly including Mr Trump, to testify under oath about what happened that day.
Mr Trump had urged Republican lawmakers to vote against it and warned of "consequences" for those who supported it.
The vote underscores the steep challenges for Democrats in the evenly divided chamber, as they will have to win the support of at least one in five Republicans to pass reforms and legislation.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has argued that a commission would have duplicated work done by other congressional committees and a federal criminal investigation that has so far resulted in more than 440 arrests.
But Republicans are also concerned that a commission would focus attention on the violence and on Mr Trump's persistent false claims about the 2020 election well into next year's midterm congressional election campaigns.
The proposal previously passed the House of Representatives with the support of all Democrats and one in six Republicans after bipartisan negotiations.
"It is unfortunate that we fell a few votes short of what was needed to begin debate on this vital legislation," said Senator Susan Collins, one of the Republicans who voted to create a commission.
Ms Collins took the most active stance in her party in pushing against Mr McConnell in support of the Bill, securing Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's support for an amendment requiring that commission staff be appointed by Democrats and Republicans.
She had a tense exchange with Mr Schumer during Friday's vote, and Republican colleague Mitt Romney said she had been disappointed that Mr Schumer had not voiced support for her amendments during his floor speech. Mr Schumer said he voiced support for many senators, including at least one Republican, Senator Rob Portman.
After the Senate vote, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats would "proceed to find the truth" about what happened on Jan 6, but said nothing about whether she would set up a special committee to investigate, as some Democrats have suggested.
REUTERS
