Comshaw
VAGITARIAN
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2000
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Chuck Schumer Dares GOP To Oppose Bill Forming Capitol Riot Commission
“Republicans can let their constituents know, are they on the side of truth [or] want to cover up for the insurrectionists and for Donald Trump?” Schumer asked at a weekly press conference.
But Republicans showed more signs of disarray on Tuesday. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) came out against the commission in a statement, saying it needed to focus on unrelated events prior to Jan. 6. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), meanwhile, said GOP members were considering whether to support it.
Contrary to McCarthy’s claim that the commission has an overly narrow scope, nothing in the legislation would prohibit the panel from examining past political violence if it’s somehow relevant. The legislation, by Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and John Katko (R-N.Y.), calls on the commission to investigate the facts and causes of the attack, “as well as the influencing factors that fomented such attack on American representative democracy while engaged in a constitutional process.”
Schumer’s pledge to move forward with a vote on a Jan. 6 commission puts Republicans in a difficult position. If the GOP decides to filibuster the commission, it would be their first use of the filibuster in this Congress, handing Democrats a talking point in their efforts to eliminate the chamber’s long-standing supermajority requirement.
But allowing the commission to proceed carries risks for the GOP as well. For one, it would almost certainly anger Trump, who continues to lie about the 2020 election and hold the party hostage by doling out critical endorsements in primaries for the midterm elections next year.
Comshaw
“Republicans can let their constituents know, are they on the side of truth [or] want to cover up for the insurrectionists and for Donald Trump?” Schumer asked at a weekly press conference.
But Republicans showed more signs of disarray on Tuesday. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) came out against the commission in a statement, saying it needed to focus on unrelated events prior to Jan. 6. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), meanwhile, said GOP members were considering whether to support it.
Contrary to McCarthy’s claim that the commission has an overly narrow scope, nothing in the legislation would prohibit the panel from examining past political violence if it’s somehow relevant. The legislation, by Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and John Katko (R-N.Y.), calls on the commission to investigate the facts and causes of the attack, “as well as the influencing factors that fomented such attack on American representative democracy while engaged in a constitutional process.”
Schumer’s pledge to move forward with a vote on a Jan. 6 commission puts Republicans in a difficult position. If the GOP decides to filibuster the commission, it would be their first use of the filibuster in this Congress, handing Democrats a talking point in their efforts to eliminate the chamber’s long-standing supermajority requirement.
But allowing the commission to proceed carries risks for the GOP as well. For one, it would almost certainly anger Trump, who continues to lie about the 2020 election and hold the party hostage by doling out critical endorsements in primaries for the midterm elections next year.
Comshaw
