WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans blocked legislation on Friday that would have created an independent commission to investigate the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
The final vote was 54 in favor and 35 against, making it the first bill to be filibustered by the Democratic-controlled Senate. The only Republicans to vote in favor of the bill were Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska; Rob Portman, of Ohio; Ben Sasse, of Nebraska; Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana; Mitt Romney, of Utah; and Susan Collins, of Maine.
The bill passed the House of Representatives last week on a 252-175 vote with 35 Republicans in favor. However, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led the call for Republicans to not support the bill out of fear they could not win control of Congress in the 2022 election if they did.
“In bowing to McConnell’s personal favor request, Republican Senators surrendered to the January 6th mob assault,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans’ denial of the truth of the January 6th insurrection brings shame to the Senate.”
After the vote, Murkowski tore into members of her own party, accusing them of caring more about politics than the truth about what happened that day.
“To be making a decision for the short-term political gain at the expense of understanding and acknowledging what was in front of us, on Jan. 6th I, I think we need to look at that critically,” Murkowski said.
Is that really what this is about? Is everything is just one election cycle after another? Or are we going to acknowledge that as a country that is based on these principles of democracy that we hold so dear” that “we have free and fair elections and we respect the results of those elections and we allow for a peaceful transition of power,” she added. “I kind of want that to endure beyond just one election cycle.”
